Marauding at Hogwarts
by 221authoronbakerst
Summary: Dark forces are taking over. One of them is a werewolf. One suffers from unrequited love. While the others have problems of their own. To top it all off they are attending the most elite school in the wizarding world. What are four teenage boys to do but cause a little mischief? (OC present)
1. A Study In Lycanthropy

**A Study in Lycanthrope**

It was an odd time to live in, 1973. It was an era for disco and hippies and punks. People who screamed for peace and love and tolerance but it did nothing to stop the war. The war that set the world on fire, or so they said. Really, it was more like a slow boil; things just got worse and hotter and angrier. What could they do in a world like that? It was deaths and disappearances and tortures in the paper every day. The Ministry scrambling to reassure, to keep the peace, to hide all this from the Muggles who died anyway. Terror. Panic. Confusion.

Had he not been so young and naive, he would not have been able to enjoy this moment. It was easy to feel safe at Hogwarts, stretched out on the floor in the common room, playing chess against his best friend. The two of them bantered and gloated after each move while Peter sat cross-legged between them, rooting for both sides - a feat he never thought possible with a game like chess but Peter always found a way. Remus was curled up on the couch studying, as they should have been, and occasionally giving out free advice on James's next move. It surprised him that Remus didn't tell James to move his bishop after he had successfully obliterated his knight, so much so, that he looked up.

Remus was staring at his half-finished star chart unseeingly as his head tilted more and more to the side, listening to another's conversation. Remus was not a particularly nosy person: the only reason why he'd listen in on a conversation he wasn't meant to be apart of would be because they were exchanging important information. So, Sirius scanned the room, finding only the mundane scene that filled their daily lives in the Gryffindor common room: The seventh years occupied the best spots by the fire, talking amongst themselves, already looking haggard and stressed although it was only November. The sixth years were, as usual, the rowdiest at their place by the windows; who could blame them when they've just finished their O.W.L's. Half of the fifth years were already studying like their lives depended on it while the other half gave the sixth years a run for their money. It was the fourth years and younger that integrated themselves and spread out around the room. It was hard to pinpoint anything at this point which made Sirius wonder how Remus was able to catch anything outside of their own circle.

"That's because I'm not a sadist," a girl yelled loud and clear over the noise causing several people to look her way, not just him. It was a voice easily distinguished not solely because of the Irish accent but also because of the yelling. Eilidh Nicnevin was only of those people who liked to scream about peace and tolerance. She disliked him because he was not tolerant in the slightest and rather forceful about his opinions. His disliked her on mere principle. Still, he couldn't help but be entertained when she yelled at someone other than him.

Eilidh picked up one of the many books in front of her and started tearing through the pages, putting them in danger of being ripped.

"Oy, it's your turn," James said. Sirius held up a hand to stop him, wanting to see what she was looking for.

"Look - 'this is the fingerprint of God.' 'It's so cruel it's perfect.'" She made a gagging noise and dropped the book like it had combusted.

"What are you doing anyway? We're only on Grindylows. We don't start on werewolves until next term," Josie asked, carefully setting a piece of parchment down on Eilidh's side of the table. Josephine Archer was someone he disliked, not because of principle, but because she seriously lacked tolerance. To be fair, she hated everyone equally and that was something Sirius could respect had it not been done so pretentious.

"Sirius, mate," James grumbled.

"Shut up," Sirius hissed.

"It's 'extra credit'." Eilidh put air quotes around her bitter words. "Remember, at the very beginning of the year when my Aunt got sick and I was out for a week?"

"You're only making that up now? We're two months in!" Josie scolded. Eilidh waved her off.

"I was excused from it. He's only making me do this because my mam. He hates werewolves, obviously," she scoffed and gave the book a disdainful flick.

"You shouldn't slack on your grades like that," Josie said, disapprovingly.

"I'm not slacking on my grades," Eilidh snarled.

"What are you two on about?" Peter yelled, tucking a Galleon into his pocket. James wriggled his eyebrows, smirking. Sirius climbed onto the couch next to Remus so it'd be easier to glare at them. They were due for a good row with them anyway.

"Sorry, mate," Eilidh said, actually looking bashful.

"Sirius, does Radagast ever give Remus extra credit work for when he'd absent?" Josie questioned.

"Who's Remus?" Eilidh asked.

"Oh yeah, loads of it," Sirius answered Josie, then to Eilidh, "Remus is a friend of mine. Bit of a geek probably asks for it."

"I am not a geek," Remus hissed, venomously, beside him. A look of recognition dawned over Eilidh when she spotted the top of Remus's head of the arm of the couch.

"Are too," Sirius returned, not bothering to look at him.

"Wanting to keep up in class doesn't make me a geek," Remus said, giving Sirius a hard and unexpected kick on his leg making him tumble off the couch. James and Peter laughed, hysterically. Sirius shoved the foot that kicked him, wondering what in the hell had gotten into Remus.

"Anyway," Sirius jumped back up, replacing his glare with a friendly smile. "What'd he give you?"

"Who cares," Remus mumbled as he sank lower in his seat. Sirius pretended not to hear him.

"I have to summarize this bloody book about lycanthropy," Eilidh answered, her voice dripping with irritation. Intrigued, Sirius moved forward.  
Any book that could be found in the Hogwarts library that wasn't in the restricted section, was generic and taciturn. For this 'bloody' book to invoke such vehement emotion, it had to be good.

"So, is that why you told everyone in the common room that you're not a sadist?" James asked, replacing Sirius on the couch.

"Could be interesting," Sirius shrugged, flipping the book around so he could look at the cover. A Study in Lycanthrope by Elsfir Miklov. Sirius had heard of him; he was a Russian warlock who went mad with his obsession.

"Try depressing," Eilidh returned, looking disgusted by his interest. It was a study in dark magic that was true, and perhaps Miklov went a little rogue with it, but everything they knew about werewolves started here, and this book was a direct translation of his personal journal. He had struck literary gold and wasn't bothered in the slightest by her disdain.

"Also sadistic," Remus added loudly, stilled curled up low on the couch. James snorted and looked at Sirius curiously.

"Mind if I borrow it when you're through?" Sirius asked, ignoring his friends.

"You could. Or you could borrow it now and earn a little money in the process," Eilidh said smartly, settling comfortably in her chair and resting her head on the tips of her fingers. Josie looked just as confused as Sirius felt.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked, suspiciously.

"You take the book, read it to your heart's content, all the while you write my essay. I'll pay you… four Galleons for the trouble."

"Eilidh you can't!" Josie said, harshly.

"How long does it have to be?" Sirius asked, ignoring the protest.

"55 inches."

"Hell no!" he scoffed. "Not for four Galleons."

"Eilidh, he assigned it to you," Josie continued.

"You actually _want_ to read that book," Eilidh argued.

"He's worth 10 at least!" James defended. Eilidh sent James a look to silence him.

"Six," she offered.

"Nine," Sirius countered.

"Sirius, mate, you're selling yourself short," James advised.

"Eight," Eilidh said, in a definitive tone.

"Fine" Sirius agreed, shaking her hand to seal the deal. James groaned and returned to the chess board.

"I'll give you half now, then the rest when you finish," she said, digging in her pockets. "It needs to be done by the 25th. And it better get me an A or higher."

"Believe me, if it doesn't get you an O I'll throw myself to the wolves," Sirius joked, pocketing the Galleons then winked at the seething Josie.

Remus was panting, when Sirius returned and looked a little pale. James was clear about his disappointment in his irritably tapping fingers. Peter fixed Sirius with a confused gaze.

"Why would you throw yourself to the wolves for not getting an Outstanding? It's not like it's your grade," Peter asked, as Sirius resumed his original position across from James.

"What on earth are you on about Pete?" Sirius asked, taking the opportunity to take out James's untouched bishop.

"You said that to that girl," Peter answered.

"That was a joke!" Sirius grumbled. "The bloke who wrote that book locked himself in a cage with a Lycro."

"I think that's an offensive term, mate. And checkmate!" James laughed haughtily.

"It's not like I called them mongrels," Sirius mumbled, flicking over his king. He picked up the book and placed himself next to Remus again. Looking closer, Remus did look a little green. "Alright, mate?"

"Yeah, yeah, just tired," Remus said, forcing a smile and swallowed strenuously. "I think I'm going to turn in early. You lot have fun."

"Your mum sick again?" Sirius asked, his voice thick from the hinted accusation. He was beginning to recognise Remus's patterns. He'd act strange and moody, withdraw into a bundle of blankets, get sicker and sicker as the days wore on, and then he'd disappear and under some unfitting excuse - most commonly, his mum was sick. He'd return a couple days later and Sirius would have to watch James practically grovel for his friendship again. The worst of it was that he was so plainly lying to them and they had to pretend not to notice, play dumb, and allow him to continue.

"Night, Remus. If you need anything," James said forcefully, looking pointedly at Sirius.

"Thanks," Remus mumbled and scurried off towards the boys' dormitory.

Remus disappeared before hitting Sirius rather hard on his upper thigh.

"Nice one, mate."

Peter's smile disappeared, only now realising the tension between his friends.

"The bloody hell's your problem?" Sirius shouted clutching his bruised leg.

"Why'd you gotta be like that towards, Remus?" James shot back.

"Well, he's clearly hiding something. Mum's sick. He's got a dad, why would they make him leave school so much?" Sirius said getting to his feet and pushing James back. Peter grabbed his wand, not entirely sure what he was planning on doing with it.

"So what? If we needed to know he would tell us." James defended. "And maybe his mum is really sick, and the reason why he can't stay at school is 'cause his dad needs to work so no one's there to take care of her."

"Then why does he always look so sick? He can barely walk some days." Sirius argued.

"Doesn't matter. What's it to you anyway?"

"I don't like being lied to."

"Whatever, Sirius."

And with that James found an empty chair on the opposite end of the common room. Sirius returned to his book. Peter found himself sitting awkwardly between two fuming friends. He was at a loss for what to say. He was tempted to follow Remus up to bed before he remembered their plans for the evening.

"Hey, James. Didn't you say you needed to... find something." Peter hinted hoping that was enough, they weren't entirely alone yet.

"What time is it?" He answered still a bit irked.

"Half past 10," Peter said after a quick glance at his wristwatch. James smirked slyly.

"We should head up to the dormitories anyway. It's lights out." He said loudly. He got up and stretched dramatically. "Coming Sirius?"

"I think I'll just read a bit before I go to bed if you don't mind, thank you, James," Sirius said politely though was still bitter from their argument.

"Suit yourself. Come along, Pete."

James and Peter left Sirius alone in the common room with a couple of seventh years. Sirius was seething. He knew that James was right and he hated it. He already felt bad about what he said to Remus as soon as he saw his reaction, he didn't need James to make him feel worse. But, this was not what he wanted to think about at the moment. So instead he focused on the lycanthropy book.

The first thing he noticed was that he, for once, agreed with Josephine Archer. At least on the sadistic question. Sirius thought Mikalov was more in awe of the condition on a whole rather than just the pain of it. Though he could see where her confusion came from.

First, referring to the werewolf as "it" instead of giving them proper pronouns. (He made a note to change this in the essay, perhaps Eilidh would feel better about it then.) Second, he went on and on about the pain of the transformation, (in this part of the book at least,) in graphic detail. He dedicated an entire page and a half to how and why the internal organs have to shrink. Indeed Mikalov was in awe of the pain of the condition, as most dark witches and wizards often are. Eilidh was either not used to this at all, or, like himself, was too used to it.

Sirius looked at the top of the parchment in search of her name. EILIDH NICNEVIN. He had definitely heard that name before. In what context he was unsure. He knew she was a pureblood and rich, but so was James so that didn't mean much. He tried summoning his father's voice and make it say, "Nicnevins. Nothing but a bunch of blood traitors," but even that didn't help.

He thought about asking his brother but there was no way to do it alone. He was a first year and in a completely different house. He could not write to his parents about this. He already dug himself into a hole when he asked to go to the Pettigrews at the beginning of the summer. He had been on punishment for the entire holiday. They would send a howler at least if they ended up being "the wrong sort." He couldn't bear to see the looks on the Slytherin's dumb faces when they heard what his parents would say.

"Psst. Sirius." whispered the voice of an invisible James. Sirius tried hard not to jump. "Think you could take a bath before bed, or something outside of the common room."

Sirius sighed heavily, tossed the book to the side, and heaved himself off the couch. He crossed the threshold, counted to 15, and swung the portrait closed.

James threw off his invisibility cloak revealing himself and Peter.

"You make a weird face when you read," Peter said after a moment's silence.

"How long were you guys watching me?" Sirius asked

"You get all... serious," Peter said wanting a better word.

"I'm always Sirius." He grinned.

"I think he means you looked constipated." James laughed. Sirius chuckled still sore with him.

They looked at each other seeming to have some silent conversation. Peter wisely stayed quiet. After a few seconds, James threw the invisibility cloak over all three of them and they started off towards the kitchen. James knew that Sirius would somehow make it up to Remus. Just like Sirius knew James was sorry for hitting him in the common room. Even though his leg was still sore and James still worried about Remus they were fine.

They walked along the dimly lit corridors with as much stealth as three 13-year-olds hiding under a cloak could muster. Peter held his breath nearly the entire way, praying they wouldn't get caught. He winced every time James or Sirius managed to trip an unsuspecting prefect (or Mr Filch). A few of them crudely blamed Peeves but most looked suspicious. Frank Longbottom, their own prefect, nearly touched them when he picked himself back up.

"Get a grip, Pettigrew," James said when Peter let out a squeal after nearly knocking into Professor McGonagall.

When finally they reached the corridor leading to where the Hufflepuffs slept James threw off the cloak.

"What are you doing?" Peter hissed glancing up and down the corridor.

"Relax. Everyone's asleep." James said in a normal voice. "Why'd you think Frank was so close to Gryffindor.

"And Maggie was so close to her office," Sirius added.

"I wish you wouldn't call her that. It's Professor McGonagall. What do you think she's gonna do when she catches you calling her that?" Peter said indignantly.

"Oh, she already has. Thought she was gonna hex me." He laughed.

"That was hilarious." James snorted. "But let's get down to business."

"Right-O Jimmy boy," Sirius said stepping into a military-like stance.

"Well I'm glad you two are so confident about this but I don't like being so close to the Slytherins. I'm pretty sure they're nocturnal." Peter rambled gaining no attention from his friends. They marched straight up to a pile of barrels. James tapped one of them 5 times resulting in its top rolling off to reveal a large hole, large enough for a grown man to slip through. Peter whimpered. He half hoped they wouldn't be successful.

"Peter relax. Think of the food!" Sirius consoled as James put his cloak back on. James slid down the hole. Peter started muttering "think of the food, think of the food" to keep himself calm. Sirius strained to hear James signal. When finally a whispered "clear" came through the opening they both relaxed. Sirius went first, down the swirling slide that led to the Hufflepuff common room and landed gracefully on his feet. Peter, forgot about the slide, followed directly after Sirius, and slid headfirst into the Hufflepuff's common room. Or more accurately, Sirius's backside for he had no time to get out of the way.

With a disgruntled "getoffme!" from Sirius they wrestled each other until James shot them both with a leg locking jinx.

"Honestly, you guys were supposed to be incognito." He said, cooly.

"It's his fault," said a grunting Sirius. He was trying to lift himself off of Peter without using his legs. Unfortunately for him, Peter had somehow wrapped his legs around Sirius and was now stuck that way. "If he had just waited 10 seconds like anyone who's been down a slide before knows how to do."

"I forgot about the slide" Peter apologised.

"Oh, Merlin's pants Potter un-jinx us!" Sirius demanded. James was too busy laughing at his friends to un-jinx them.

"Why are the lights on?" Peter whispered.

"Must be motion sensors," James said after calming down. He performed the counter-jinx and helped Peter to his feet.

"But ours isn't motion sensored," Peter remarked.

"We have different founders, now shut up." Sirius snapped. "Which was to the boy's dormitories?"

"To the left, I think," James said.

"You're sure? You remember last year when we tried to sneak into the girl's dormitories. There was that God awful shrieking noise. And McGonagall-" Peter started.

"Yes, yes I'm sure," James snapped. Sirius had already started towards the left at the mention of last year. "You stay here and keep watch."

Both boys stopped at the food of the left staircase. They glanced at each other nervously before placing their foot on the first step at the same time. Nothing happened. They continued, with caution, up the steps. When they got about 1/3 of the way and still nothing happened they knew they were headed in the right direction. They quickened their pace still making sure their steps were light. They stopped at an opening to a vast corridor that seemed to have no end. There were millions of doors and they all looked the same except for the bright yellow numbers painted on them instead of red.

"I thought it be different but it's exactly the same as ours," Sirius whispered sounding disappointed. "Boring. What number was it again?"

"13," James said distractedly. He was already looking down the corridor to find the correct room. "It's not the same, it's all mixed up."

"What do ya mean?"

"4 is next to 17, 25 next to 32. And 13 is nowhere to-"

"Second on the right," Sirius said, dramatically showcasing the door.

"Sirius Black, what would I do without you?" James smiled wickedly at his friend and followed him through room 13.

They peered through each of the bed curtains. Finally, they found their sleeping seventh year, Geoffrey Wilkes. Sirius muttered a charm that put a shiny silver band around Wilkes' mouth. James grabbed his arm waking him. Wilkes thrashed about. Sirius tried to grab his legs without getting kicked. The two boys carried him quickly out of the room worried that his muffled screams would wake his roommates.

Peter upon seeing his friends began bouncing with eminent relief.

"What do we do now. I'd rather not carry this giant oaf up the slide. It was hard enough going downstairs." James asked Sirius.

"I hadn't thought of that," Sirius admitted, throwing Wilkes legs down. "Peter, sit on him."

Peter moved forward and was going to do as he was asked but still said, "Isn't there a body binding curse we could use?" James set his half down and Peter placed himself on Wilkes' chest.

"If you know how to do it then by all means," James answered striding over to his thinking friend.

"How do you not know, you know everything?" Peter said as if the idea of James not knowing something was absurd.

"Well it's not in the standard book of spells and the teachers won't tell us anything, they're suspicious of us. So no, I don't know the spell." James barked. He crossed his arms and pouted while trying to think of a solution. Peter continued to sit guiltily on top of Wilkes and tried not to ask why they hadn't checked the school's library.

"Why didn't we think of an escape plan?" Sirius said, exasperated.

"Because we are terrible at thinking things through, don't you ever listen to Remus?" James said beginning to pace.

"Do you think we could charm the slide to go backwards?" Sirius suggested resulting in a loud groan from Wilkes.

"That'd take too long to figure out," James said shortly. Sirius and Peter started at Wilkes who glared back at them while James still paced. Peter glanced up at Sirius catching his eye and was surprised to see that they might have the same idea. A swift nod from Sirius confirmed it. Peter silently suggested that they ask James before they went ahead with their plan. Sirius rolled his eyes but still asked,

"James mate, perhaps we could ask the Hufflepuff?"

"Why in the everloving name of Merlin would we do that?"

"Well, he's a Hufflepuff. He comes in and out of here on a daily."

"Yes but the minute we let him out he'll scream and wake everybody up. And we'll be expelled. I don't want to be expelled! Do you wanna be expelled?" James yelled.

"Sorry. Dumb idea." Peter responded lowering his head.

"Do you promise not to scream?" Sirius turned toward Wilkes who responded with a vigorous head nod and "mmmerph."

"See he promises not to scream. Get off of him, Pete." Sirius moved so that he was now kneeling next to Wilkes' head. He kept his left hand ready to clamp Wilkes' mouth shut if the situation proved necessary. With his right hand, he waved his wand over Wilkes' face removing the bind. This allowed Wilkes to call the three boys every crude insult he could think of starting with, "you thick gits."

"Merlin's pants. I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be nice."

"Bravo, my foul-mouthed friend."

James and Peter said after he had finished. Sirius sat scowling at him. They locked eyes and Wilkes seemed to shrink.

"Sirius?" James looked shocked at the look he saw on his friend's face.

"That was rude." He said firmly to Wilkes.

"Sorry," Wilkes said. Sirius then stood up next to his friends but kept his eyes on Wilkes. James rested his arm on Sirius's shoulder.

"Well," Peter started looking back and forth between Wilkes and his friends. "How do we get out of here?"

"There's a staircase that wraps itself around the chute," Wilkes said with as much politeness he could muster.

"No there isn't," Sirius said moving towards it.

"It's on the other side," Wilkes said regaining his previous tone. Sirius looked and he did indeed find a staircase that wrapped around the slide. He nodded at James who then moved to bring Wilkes to his feet. Wilkes ripped himself away and yelled,

"What the hell are you doing?"

"We woke you up for a reason, mate. You need to come with us." James laughed.

"Kidnapped's more like it. I'm not going anywhere with you. I know who you are. You two marauding around Hogwarts like you own the place. Who are you anyway, but a bunch of second years?" Despite the bold words Wilkes had clamoured up on his feet and was backing away. Once he had finished he turned and ran towards the dormitories.

"Sirius." James signalled stepping aside giving his friend a clear path to point his wand and say, "locomotor wibbly." Wilkes to fell to the floor from the lack of stability.

"Now you can't run away," James said proudly. Wilkes shakily got back on his feet. "And we're third years."

"Jelly legs jinx. How juvenile. You three just wait 'till I get my wand. You have no idea who you're dealing with!" Wilkes threatened.

"We only wanted to know where the kitchens are," Peter muttered. Wilkes looked startled by this. He stared blankly at the three of them for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"I don't see why that's so funny?" Peter said thinking he was missing something.

"It's not." James and Sirius spoke at the same time. "Alright, funnyman. Time to go." James continued.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait." Wilkes said still laughing. "I'll take you, I will just un-jinx me."

"Yeah, not falling for it."

"No seriously. I'll take you guys."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch," Wilkes said shaking his head. "I would have liked to wait until morning, but since we're already up." Wilkes shrugged and led the three boys shakily out of the Hufflepuff common room. Once they got to the corridor, James removed the jinx and Wilkes led them to a portrait of a bowl of fruit.

He paused a moment allowing the boys to take in the details before he reached up and tickled a pear. The pear gave a high pitched giggle before it turned into a giant green doorknob. Wilkes used it to pull open the door revealing a warmly lit high ceiling room with bright copper pots and a stone fireplace. In the middle of the room were 4 long wooden tables. The house elves paused from their various tasks, smiled at the four of them, bowed low, and continued with their work.

"Merlin!" The three boys exclaimed in unison.

"You're welcome, gents." Wilkes chuckled. "Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to actually get some sleep now."

James, Peter, and Sirius lurched forward into the kitchen. They examined every corner they could reach. Introduced themselves to the house elves, asking them questions when one popped into their heads. They committed the name of one house elf, Hoagie, to memory who seemed more than willing to follow their every wish. It was because of him, the boys went to bed (hexing Mrs Norris along the way) with stuffed stomachs and loaded pockets full of sweets.

Remus was waiting up for them but was hiding this fact behind his potions textbook. He was relieved to find that his friends had not been caught, at least not by those of the stricter staff.

"How was tonight's mischief-making?" Remus asked in the most monotonous voice he could muster.

"Mischief was managed excellently, Remus," James answered brightly.

"We brought you back some souvenirs," Sirius added, emptying his pockets on the foot of Remus's bed. James smiled knowingly at Sirius. Remus's heart warmed. He hid his expression behind his book before muttering his gratitude.

"Well goodnight you fruity gits," James said climbing into his bed.

"Kiss off, Potter." Sirius barked stalking over to his side of the room. He thrust the lycro book onto his nightstand before pulling off his robes and climbing into bed.

Remus's eyes were glued to that leather-bound book. The silver writing that marked its title, "A Study in Lycanthropy" seemed to glow, straight through his bed curtains. This made it impossible for him to sleep. His mind was spiralling out of control and by morning he was paralysed with fear of the foreboding scrutiny from his friends.

* * *

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	2. A Lesson in Friendship

Chapter 2 A lesson in friendship

24 November 1973

It had been two weeks and three days since Sirius Black got his hands on that blasted lycanthropy book and he had hardly set it down. Remus was growing more and more agitated by its presence by the day. Sirius was finished with the essay and almost finished with the book itself. Surely he would have figured it out by now.

Yet Sirius didn't seem scared or discussed or even suspicious. In fact, he was being… nice. Not that Sirius wasn't nice, in his own way. Sirius's nice was usually hexing someone's eyebrows off when they insulted Remus. Sirius's nice did not include not insulting Remus himself. What was even more eerie about this was that he hadn't been insulted at all since the last full moon. Usually, there was constant banter between the four of them, now Remus was excluded from this. And Peter kept making him tea. Why a bloke would ever make another bloke tea, Remus couldn't imagine. And now they were sitting in the common room waiting for Sirius to come back from the hospital. James gave him a black eye for using the word lycro too many times.

"This is the second time this month you've punched him." Remus scolded.

"He deserved it," James said scribbling on a piece of parchment.

"What'd he even do the first time?" Remus asked. The first time had been two days before the full moon. Remus was sick in the hospital wing when Sirius had come in clutching his stomach. James had only hit him once but Peter tried to fix the bruise. He only remembered a spell that had something to do with bruises. Sirius came in with so many bruises it looked like he had been trampled on by centaurs.

"Nothing," James answered curling up in his chair.

"But you said he deserved it?"

"I was talking about this time."

"So you punched your best friend for no reason?"

"Lycro is an offensive term." James shrugged.

"Not this time, the first time," Remus said irritably.

"Oh, you should have been more specific," James answered trying not to laugh. Remus waited for an answer.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" James asked innocently.

"Well, why'd you punch him?" Remus yelled.

"Because he used an offensive term. Just because he's a Black doesn't mean he can't have manners." James stated.

"Where's Peter?" Remus asked, giving up on him.

"Went to get his book, why?"

"Because maybe he'll actually give me some answers." Remus huffed.

"I'll go with you. I'd like to get some answers too." James said mocking his irritated tone. James and Remus climbed up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. Peter was digging through his trunk trying to find his transfigurations book when they got there. Remus cleared his throat causing Peter to jump from shock.

"Alright, guys?" Peter asked nervously. Remus looked determined and James was staring intently at Peter as if trying to portray a private message.

"Fine, you?" Remus answered cordially.

"Can't find my transfigurations book." he said returning to his trunk.

"I'll let you borrow mine."

"Thank you, but I left my assignment in it."

"Then I'll help you find it later we need to talk," Remus said moving to the centre of the room. Peter looked to James hoping to figure out what was going on but James had moved his attention to Remus.

"Maybe we should wait for Sirius," Peter suggested.

"No, I'd rather not," Remus said.

"You'd better wait for me! I'll not be left out of anything." Sirius said striding through the door.

"It's not going to be fun, Sirius," Remus answered.

"Fine. I'm still not leaving. I'm just as much a part of this group as you." Sirius spoke tone still light.

"Fine. But," Remus said pausing for emphasis. "This is a seri- an important issue. So there will be no jokes, no interrupting, and if things get heated control your temper."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked sounding a bit hurt.

"You can say cruel things when you're angry sometimes," Remus admitted.

"Oh, Merlin! Have you done something?" Sirius accused.

"No! How did you turn this on me?" Remus flustered.

"Well, what is it then," Sirius asked moving to the centre of the room and sat on the floor in front of Remus. The other three followed him, forming a circle as they often did when they talked about important things.

"Well, go on." Sirius urged after a moment of silence.

"Remus wants to know what happened the first time I hit you," James told him.

"Oh, you mean that one time when I hexed that ginger during first year?" Sirius grinned. Peter snorted. Remus smiled tightly still fidgeting violently with his fingers.

"No!" James sneered. "He's talking about the first time this month."

"When I made that quip about his mum. You were there for that." Sirius answered.

"No. Not that time either. I guess it would be the second time this month." James said.

"Oh, that!" Sirius laughed. "Honestly, I don't even remember. Seems ages ago now."

Silence fell about the room. Remus looked from James to Peter to Sirius and back again. He knew Sirius was lying and it only seemed to confirm his suspicions that they knew.

"Sirius said that you were a werewolf, that's why. And at first I thought it was just him being a git, you know. But then… well, the point is we know Remus." James answered in a rush. Peter and Sirius groaned. Remus went pale. Every nerve in his body seemed to tremble. He was expecting this, he had prepared himself for this, why was he so scared?

"It's alright mate. That's why we didn't say anything." Sirius reassured him sensing his mood. Remus nodded but couldn't speak. He found himself close to tears.

"How-how long have you guys known?" Remus asked keeping his voice tight so it wouldn't crack.

"Well, I knew since the seventh, because of the lycro book. Chapter 2 How to Identify Symptoms of Lycanthropy." Sirius started.

"Stop using that word!" James bellowed.

"Well, what do you want me to call it?" Sirius demanded.

"Perhaps you should ask Remus."

"Werewolves is generally preferable but I don't really mind," Remus stated. "Now, how did you two find out? Clearly, you didn't believe him when he told you."

"We followed you to the whomping willow under the cloak," Peter answered.

"I started marking when the full moon was coming up and estimated when it'd be at its apex," Sirius added.

"So he knew when you needed to turn. He convinced us to stalk you." James said.

"That was an awful row. They actually used magic against each other." Peter told him.

"Well, I don't like stalking my friends." James defended.

"It was the only way to convince you I was right," Sirius argued.

"Anyway, we followed you through the tunnels and saw you transform. There was no denying it then." James finished.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" Remus shouted.

"So? We're Gryffindors! We laugh in the face of danger." Sirius yelled heroically.

"Hear, hear. Well said." James grinned. Remus' face was contorted with fury and fear.

"Relax mate. We had the cloak. You didn't even know we were there." Peter said.

"Anything could have happened," Remus said gritting his teeth.

"But nothing did mate. We're fine." James added.

"More than fine actually. This is the most interesting thing that's ever happened to us." Sirius laughed.

"Doesn't matter. Something could have. This isn't one of your jokes." Remus said. "You guys have no sense."

"How do you figure that? We took the cloak, didn't we? And we left once we realised what was happening." James argued.

"The cloak can't protect you from everything James," Remus yelled.

"Well I don't really need anything else, I've got a werewolf as a mate now." The three of them laughed.

"I've always been a werewolf. And that's exactly why you need protecting. This condition isn't a game." Ramus argued.

"No, I reckon it's a giant pain in the ass sometimes." Peter laughed.

"UGH! You guys are the most annoying people on the planet!" Remus yelled getting up and climbing into his bed.

"Alright, Remus. We're sorry we followed you into your den." Sirius laughed. The other two joined in recognising the joke.

"Swear you won't do it again. Swear to me that you'll never come near the wolf again." Remus said standing again.

"Remus, you're being ridiculous," James said.

"Downright lunacy." Sirius and Peter laughed.

"Swear it," Remus said firmly.

"Alright, alright fine," Sirius said.

"That's not enough." Remus shook his head.

"I swear I won't go near your wolfy parts again," Sirius said rolling his eyes. Remus turned to the other two.

"I solemnly swear it," Peter said raising his right hand. Remus turned his full attention to the last of them.

"James please."

"I don't make promises I can't keep, Remus. What if something were to happen. Like what if someone decides to attack the whomping willow. Or what if some unsuspecting first year was wandering around while you were in your wolf form and I was the only one around to stop him. There are a million scenarios." James argued.

"Alright. Swear you won't go near him unless there is an emergency." Remus conceded.

"I swear not to go near him unless it is worth the risk," James answered.

"Thank you," Remus said relieved. "I have one last request."

"Bloody hell you're needy today." Sirius joked.

"Just, don't say anything until after the holidays, please. It'll give my parents enough time to find a new house. I know we're still in school on the next full moon, but it's been three years and nothing's happened so far. Dumbledore made sure it was safe for everyone." Remus started to babble nervously

"What kind of friends have we been to you if you think we'd rat you out?" James asked.

"Well, it-it's not safe," Remus said shocked.

"Nonsense. It's just a bit of a problem that's all. Nothing everyone need know about." James answered.

"And like you said Dumbledore made sure it was safe," Peter added.

"I told you this was the most interesting thing that's happened to us. Why would we want you to go away?" Sirius asked.

"Because I-I turn into a monster every full moon," Remus said incredulously.

"Monster!" James and Sirius laughed.

"Mate you fold your socks," Peter said. "And then you organise them by colour."

"And line up your quills at the top of your desk."

"Not to mention your morning routine."

"You don't watch it they might make you prefect."

"OoooOooo. Lupin for prefect. We should start a campaign."

"I think the most monstrous thing you've done is make us miss our first Hogsmeade outing," Sirius said.

"It's not my fault James punched you." Remus defended.

"Technically we were only fighting because of you sooooo it's your fault entirely," James said.

"You do get pretty pissed off when Sirius uses 'offensive terms," Peter argued.

"Understatement of the century." Sirius laughed. "And I don't use offensive terms, for the last time!"

"Yes, you do." The three of them said.

"Well, I don't try to," Sirius said apologetically.

"How do you _not_ try to use those words? Most of us cringe every time they're spoken." James asked.

"They're not that bad," Sirius said now fully ashamed.

"Yes, they are! You sound like the Slytherins sometimes." James said causing Sirius to shrink.

"My whole family is Slytherin, James. I don't mean to, it's just normal." Sirius said quietly. The boys sat around him not really sure what to say.

"They're alright to you aren't they?" James said after a while. "I mean since you're in Gryffindor. You never said…. You got that letter but you never said what they said. And the Christmas holiday that year, you came back and-"

"Yea they're alright. They don't like it but it's fine. I'm fine." Sirius told him. "I wonder if Longbottom's back yet. I asked him to bring back some stuff from Zonko's." Sirius stood and left the three staring after him.

"Do you think they're really alright to him?" Peter asked.

"What happened when he came back from holiday?" Remus added.

"He just seemed a bit shell-shocked," James said staring at the door Sirius left through.

"So, they're not alright to him," Peter concluded following James's gaze.

"We should go after him," Remus said stuffing on his shoes.

The other two followed wordlessly out of their dorm room. They passed students studying in the common room. They wandered around the almost empty corridors until finally, they found him. He was sitting at the foot of the stairs watching the front doors of the castle. James marched down the corridor while the other two stayed behind.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked sitting next to his friend.

"Waiting for Frank Longbottom to come back with my stuff," Sirius said blankly.

"That seems incessantly boring."

"Well, I wanted to go to Hogsmeade myself but someone had to go and lose their temper."

"I'm sorry," James said earnestly. "You know, I think we might be able to spot him earlier if we're on the quidditch field. Might be able to have a bit of fun that way too."

"You're not wearing shoes." Sirius pointed out. "It's freezing out there."

"Well if I die from hypothermia we'll have you to blame." James laughed striding over to the door. "Come on!"

The three of them lurched after James. They ran down the steps, crossed through the frosted grass. By the time they reached the quidditch field James could barely feel his toes. He curled them trying to regain some feeling while he waited for the others to catch up.

"Now what?" Asked a panting Sirius. Remus bent with his hands on his knees taking deep breaths through his nose. Peter had completely keeled over and was sucking in the cold air trying to catch his breath.

"Now we-." James stopped mid-sentence to stare at Remus.

"What is it?" Sirius asked shifting his eyes between the two.

"Remus, what is your jumper made of?" James asked ignoring Sirius.

"Wool, why?" Remus responded. Peter chuckled.

"He's a wolf in sheep's clothing." James laughed. Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius grinned.

"If you keep this up, I don't think the secret will last until the holiday." Remus smiled.

"Alright, I'm done," James said still laughing. "Now what we're going to do is break into the broom closet, steal a few brooms, and ride ourselves silly. Did anybody bring their wand?"

"You didn't bring your wand?"

"What kind of wizard are you?"

"You do realise we're at the start of a war?"

"Yes, but that's got nothing to do with us, we're just kids," James said.

"I beg to differ, they like to start 'em young. Why do you think they follow him so blindly?" Sirius said.

"Fine, whatever I'll keep my wand on me, now let's go unlock the bloody door," James ordered.

"Isn't this stealing?" Remus said. "Why don't we just go back and grab our own brooms?"

"And you called yourself a monster." James tutted.

The four of them rode well into the evening. James uncharacteristically had his mind elsewhere. It was obvious to him now that Sirius needs to be listened to thoroughly in order to be understood. The problem was getting him to open up. Then there was Remus. There had to be a way to get him to relax about his lycanthropy. Wolves were pack animals after all. Wouldn't it be easier for him to have friends by his side? Coming to this conclusion, James went back into the dorm rooms, using his bare feet as an excuse, to finally use the journal his mother got him to help with his "organisation skills". He wrote:

To-do:

1.) talk to Sirius, seriously.

2.) Find (safe) way to help R.L.


	3. Letters Between James and Sirius

Chapter 3 Letters between James and Sirius over the Christmas holiday.

Well James,

I got a copy of the lycanthropy book like you asked. I still don't understand why we needed our own copy when I already read it. It didn't say anything about werewolves interacting with anything else besides him. He did the study in his basement for Merlin's sake.

I'll send it to you if I can without my parents noticing. If not you'll just have to wait until school.

No, I cannot spend Christmas with you. I'm on punishment for speaking to Remus on the platform. They say I have to make friends with another pureblood before the year's out. Merlin knows what'll happen if I don't. I feel like I'm in a prison already.

And before you say, I know you're a pureblood, but you're not the kind they mean. They want Rosiers or someone like him.

You should see if Peter could come instead. Remus won't but Peter's mum would like to know that he's friends with a Potter so it's much more likely.

Also, I will ask about the Nicnevins but at the right moment or else they might pull me out of Hogwarts and homeschool me like the Machaults.

Give my best to your mum and dad.

S.B.

Sirus,

Stop being such a wimp and just sneak out, you can spend the rest of the holiday here. Besides, Peter went to Germany to visit his cousins and Remus is Remus so you're my only hope!

And it doesn't matter if the book doesn't talk about it I still want to read it, it's obviously useful.

Anyway, you're better at planning than I am so figure something out before I show up at your doorstep and your parents shoot me down for being an evil blood traitor.

James Potter.

P.s. ask about the Nicnevins before you do. J.P.

P.p.s mum and dad say hi.

James F. Potter,

First, I am not a wimp. You have no idea what my parents are like and if the universe has any mercy you never shall. The security charms my father put up are meant to keep people out as well as keep people, namely me, in.

Second, I asked my brother about the Nicnevins after your previous letter. He informed me that though they are pure blood and uphold similar values. Our parents (mine and my brother's) do not get along with them because they align themselves with half-breeds. Upon further investigation, I found that the half-breeds my brother referred to are, in fact, werewolves.

It has occurred to me that befriending Eilidh Nicnevin might help solve our "furry little problem" as well as my lack of association with purebloods.

Finally, my father takes down certain security charms, that would otherwise hinder me from leaving, when he and my mother attend parties. They are scheduled to attend the Malfoys' Christmas dinner on the 24th. Under usual circumstances I would gladly fly to your place and spend the rest of the holiday with you and your family, however, 1.) as you so tactfully pointed out I am a wimp 2.) I am still on punishment thus no longer have access to my broom and 3.) your previous letter was so insulting I no longer find myself in the holiday spirit.

Cordially yours,

Sirius O. Black

P.S. They don't let wimps into Gryffindor. S.B.

P.P.S Who's the one who couldn't jump off the Quidditch hoops in 2nd year? S.B.

P.P.P.S. If you have an extra broom and find yourself extremely bored on the night of the 24th the security to my house will be uncharacteristically low around 8:45. On a totally unrelated topic, my bedroom happens to be located on the top floor, the second window on the left. S.B.

S.O.B.

(see what I did there?) How dare you speak so distant and cold to me? I might not come and rescue you out of your torture prison after that. More Christmas pudding for me haha.

Obviously, I have a spare broom, do you know who I am?

J.F.P.

P.S. I don't like the sound of Nicnevin. You said she upholds pure-blood values.

P.P.S. Mum says I have to come and get you, or else. Then she did her scary mum face, you know the one. So I guess I have to come.

P.P.P.S. I WAS 12!

James,

I hate to tell you this, but you're still 12.

I said her family "upholds the pureblood values", not her. She is in Gryffindor so she can't be that bad. Besides, I've seen that ginger you're so fond of hanging out with her a few times.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you and your mother soon 'ikle Jamie. Until then be good. Don't forget to say please and thank you, and always eat your green vegetables.

Sincerely,

the S.O.B.

****author's note*****

I'd love to have some feedback from you guys, even if it's just to tell me how much I suck. XO


	4. A Trip to the Potters

Chapter 4 A Trip to the Potters

At 8:30 on the night of the 24th James Potter waited in a muggle cafe on a brightly lit street in the midst of muggle London. Number 12 Grimmauld Place was in distant view from where he sat. His eyes remained glued to the serpent shaped door knocker waiting for two shrewd-looking wizards to reveal themselves.

Mr and Mrs Black were people James knew only by sight and reputation, but if the rumours were true he did not want to be caught anywhere near their home. So James sat in his itchy muggle jeans and constricting muggle coat wanting desperately for a butterbeer but instead sipped at his bitter muggle drink. His leg bounced in anticipation as he tapped his fingers counting to 60 over and over again.

By the fifth round, he saw the distant figures of Mr and Mrs Black step onto their porch step into the fluorescent Christmas lighting and quickly disappear from sight. James lurched from his seat, thanked the staff for their service, and ventured out into the blistering cold December night.

He rounded the corner into a deserted alleyway where he had hidden his brooms under his invisibility cloak. Thankfully he marked its position with a moldy half frozen cardboard box or else he'd be there for hours trying to find it . James mounted his broom and took off flying towards number 12 Grimmauld Place. The light was already on in Sirius's window so he flew directly to it, tapped three times, and waited for no more than three seconds till Sirius opened his window.

"You're early," Sirius whispered.

"By five minutes," James answered checking his watch. "Why are we whispering?"

"I haven't checked on Kreacher yet. He might be listening outside the door." Sirius told him throwing some last minute things inside his trunk.

"Kreacher?" James asked.

"House elf." Sirius shrugged.

"What about Reg? Do we need to worry about him?" James asked with his hand on his wand.

"Nah. Mum locks us in our rooms when she goes out to make sure we don't get into anything," Sirius explained examining his door. "Even if he did break out, which is highly unlikely, he wouldn't say anything. He's not like that." Sirius poked at the door with his wand muttering different spells under his breath.

"Have you tried Alohomora?" James suggested weakly.

"Oh brilliant idea, James. I didn't think of using a spell that every first year knows." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Just trying to help, mate." James shrugged turning to look about the room. "We should get a skeleton key. You know one of those keys that can unlock any door."

"Now _that_ is an excellent idea. We'll work on that when we get to your - wait a minute…. Got it!" Sirius exclaimed followed by several sharp clicks from his door. "I'll be back in a tick. Stay here. If Kreacher sees you, he'll call my father and we'll both be dead."

Sirius didn't wait for an answer but left James to wander around his bedroom. Sirius had pinned up red and yellow (very close to gold) blankets to cover the green walls. Under his bed were automobile magazines and hidden under loose floorboards were several muggle records and tapes. His desk was empty apart from some stationary with his family crest on it. His wardrobe was filled, wall to wall, with dress robes. James made a note to tease him about this later.

"Welp. Kreacher is preoccupied, it's time to go." Sirius said entering the room. He picked up his travelling cloak and threw it over his shoulders. He grabbed his trunk and cast a disillusionment charm under his bed and sealed the loose floor boards. James handed him his extra broom and they marched over to the window.

"Wait!" James gasped. "Did you pack the book?"

"No. I gave it to my father to take to the Malfoy's for a wedding gift." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Tell me you're not serious," James demanded.

"'Fraid you're in the wrong house, mate. 'Not Sirius' lives next door." Sirius grinned. "Wait, we need to take these down."

"What down?" James asked. Sirius waved his wand across the room causing the blankets to rip off the walls and fold themselves into a pile which Sirius grabbed and stuffed under his bed.

"I tried putting up a Gryffindor banner but mum burned it when I went back to school so…," Sirius answered James's questioning look.

"You should try a permanent sticking charm," James suggested moving back towards the window.

"I'm working on it," Sirius admitted mounting his broom. They both stood on the window seal, glanced at each other with bright eyes and wide smiles, counted to three, and jumped into the brisk evening air carrying Sirius's trunk between them.

Upon reaching the Potter house Sirius stood agape at the front gate. The house was three stories high and covered in red and green Christmas lights that blinked and flashed according to the beat of whatever Christmas carol that happened to be playing inside. The soft muffled hum of music and laughter rattled the window. Sirius could smell cookies baking from where he stood on the pavement. It was warmer and more welcoming than anything he had ever seen and that included Hogwarts.

"Coming mate?" James laughed, halfway to his front door. Sirius ran after James craving the warmth that seemed to radiate off the house.

"You're not in trouble are you?" Sirius asked handing over his half frozen cloak in the entryway.

"Nah. I told my dad I was gonna stay at yours for supper, so just go with it okay," James answered kicking off his shoes. "Now. Welcome to my humble abode." James said taking a deep bow causing Sirius to chuckle. "This is the entryway where we greet our guest. That is my grandfather Henry." James said pointing at a portrait hanging in the hall after they actually entered the house.

"Good evening." Henry greeted warmly. Henry was a tall skinny wizard who wore a thin blue cardigan and wore thick rimmed bifocals. His white hair was cut short but was messy exactly like James's when he wasn't messing it up worse. "Jimmy-boy your parents are in the living room."

"Thanks, Granddad. I'll show you the rest of the house later." James told Sirius as he led the way into the living room. Sirius stayed uncharacteristically silent. He was too busy marvelling at the Christmas decorations that seemed to touch every corner of the house. "My parents are obsessed with the holidays," James admitted after seeing Sirius crane his neck trying to get a proper view of the gigantic Christmas tree in the drawing room.

"It looks like Kris Kringle threw up in here," Sirius said meaning it as a compliment. James laughed. They rounded a corner and entered the sitting room where Mr and Mrs Potter were sitting drinking their evening tea and singing Christmas carols loudly and gaily. Mrs Potter had thinning red hair and was a bit frumpy, but this was obviously from late childbirth. She wore a bright red jumper with reindeer embroidered along the trim. Mr Potter looked very much like James's grandfather Henry, perhaps a bit younger. He too was dressed in a festive holiday jumper. The family resemblance between the three of them was obvious. James had Mrs Potter's bright hazel eyes and his father's dark messy hair and narrow face.

"Jaime, love, your back!" Mrs Potter exclaimed jumping up to hug her son.

"And you must be Sirius." Mr Potter said taking a place beside his wife. "James has told us so much about you."

"Yes sir," Sirius answered offering his hand. He suddenly found himself to be incredibly nervous to meet his friend's parents. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"There's no need to be so stiff, mate." James snorted.

"Jaime, manners." Mrs Potter reminded combing back his hair. "But he's right dear. We want you to feel at home here. Are your parents still here?"

"Uh. No. They umm…." Sirius said struggling to find a proper answer.

"They had a Christmas party to go to. Didn't want to be late." James finished.

"Oh, well I'm sure we'll meet properly on the platform then." Mrs Potter said. Sirius suddenly felt nauseous. He hadn't thought of what his parent's reaction would be when they found out he'd left. "Did you eat enough dear, you look a little peckish?" She asked Sirius.

"Oh, I'm fine just tired that's all." Sirius shrugged not meeting her eyes.

"Of course you are! I didn't realise how late it was." She consoled. "Off to bed, the both of you."

"But Mum! What about the cookies?" James whined. Sirius tried very hard not to laugh.

"They're for tomorrow. If you don't get to bed now, you won't get any. Off you go." said a stern Mrs Potter with a look that Sirius could only assume to be her "mum face."

"Good night Mr and Mrs Potter. Thanks for letting me stay for Christmas." Sirius said earnestly before turning to follow James.

"Night!" James shouted as he mounted the stairs with Sirius trailing closely behind.

Once they were safely in James's room with the door shut tightly behind them Sirius told him of his worries. And James, being who he was, offered his solution. Sirius wrote his father a letter, (he was too nervous to write to his mother)

Dear Dad,

A friend of mine had a Christmas emergency that I had to help him with. Truly it was life or death. I am sorry for not telling you I was leaving and for causing you to worry. I am prepared to face my consequences during the summer holidays. Until then know that I am safe and in the company of a wonderful pure-blooded family. Tell Mum and Reg I said Happy Christmas.

I'll see you all on the platform.

Your beloved son,

Sirius

and James addressed it to Mr Black at number 12 Grimmauld Place so Kreacher wouldn't recognise the handwriting. They instructed James's owl to bring this directly to the house elf then come straight home and to make sure he wasn't followed. Sirius was then able to rest easy, or as easy as any thirteen-year-old boy could rest on the night of Christmas eve.


	5. Christmas at the Potters

Chapter 5 Christmas at the Potter's

Sirius Black woke the next morning in a sleeping bag on the floor of a room he did not recognise. The walls were painted pale blue and were covered with posters of flying wizards in quidditch uniforms. There was a bed to the left of him that was so ruffled it looked as if it had never been made. A trunk, at the foot of the bed, was thrown open with its contents spilling out. The closet, that was left open, was filled with only a few shirts, a thick muggle coat, a wizard's cloak, one dress robe, and a dozen pairs of shoes that looked as if they were barely worn. Sirius counted five different models of brooms, two of which were under the bed, one rested inside his closet behind his dress robe, and the two they used last night still rested against the wall next to the door. A desk to the right of him was littered in tiny bolts and wheels that seemed to belong to a watch he was tinkering with. A small waste basket with filled with crumpled up paper and broken quills. Inside the desk drawer, he found his letters as well as some from Remus and Peter that dated all the way back to the summer after first year. There was no other place in the world that this could be beside James Potter's bedroom.

He looked over his shoulder to tease his friend about his sentimentality but was reminded that he was alone. One glance out of the frost covered window reminded him that it was Christmas. He dashed to his trunk, pulled on the first things that resembled clothing, and ran down the stairs in search of his friend. He found him sitting with his parents and a stranger in the cinnamon smelling kitchen drinking coffee. All four of them were still in their pyjamas which Sirius found strange, nevertheless, he entered the room with a bright smile and shouted: "happy Christmas" which was returned wholeheartedly.

"You going somewhere?" James asked as Sirius sat down accepting a coffee from Mrs Potter.

"No why?" Sirius returned utterly confused.

"Well, people usually spend Christmas in their PJ's don't they?" James replied.

"Oh, Jamie. Leave him be, probably better for you to get dressed every now and then anyway." Mrs Potter added.

"My parents usually insist upon it, but I like this better. More homey. I think I'll go change." Sirius said skipping off up the stairs.

"James, you made him feel awkward." His mother scolded.

"You like him don't you." James smiled at his mother ignoring her disapproval.

"We do. He's very polite." She beamed. "I think he'll be a good influence on you." James nearly choked on his coffee but said nothing.

"And what about you Aunt Muriel, what do you think?" James asked, putting a hand on his dozing aunt's shoulder startling her awake.

"What? What? Think about what?" She said as if she hadn't been asleep, just missed part of the conversation.

"About my friend? Or did you miss him? He wished you a happy Christmas." James said.

"Happy Christmas to your friend too." She sang.

"Aunt Muriel, I think you'll like him. He's a sweet boy. Oh, here he comes now." Mr Potter said. Sirius Black skipped back into the kitchen in a fresh pair of pinstriped pyjamas. "Sirius this is our aunt Muriel, Aunt Muriel this is James's friend Sirius." Mr Potter smiled.

"Happy Christmas Aunt Muriel." Sirius grinned offering the elderly woman his hand.

"Happy Christmas James's friend Sirius." Aunt Muriel laughed excepting the boy's hand. "You look quite strapping in your pyjamas." Sirius bowed his head to hide his blushed much to James's surprise.

"Thank you ma'am." Sirius chuckled.

"Cinnamon rolls are done!" sang Mrs Potter. She came towards the table carrying a large baking sheet covered in quaffle sized cinnamon rolls. The three boys bent forward breathing in the smell. Aunt Muriel's eyes started to droop again though no one noticed.

"Thanks, Mum!" James exclaimed picking up his knife and fork from beside his plate.

"Thanks, Mrs Potter." Sirius and Mr Potter said together, one less affectionately than the other.

"You're welcome loves. And Happy Christmas." She said placing a roll on each of their plates.

"Happy Christmas." Mr Potter smiled at his wife. The boys had their mouths too full to give their returns.

"Mum, can we open presents after breakfast?" James asked excitedly after he swallowed his food.

"Of course." She hummed.

"You haven't opened your presents yet?" Sirius asked surprised. Of course, when he thought about it, James probably would have left the paper strewn across his bedroom floor.

"Oh, no. Mum likes to see our faces, so she keeps them under the tree." James explained gargling his orange juice. "Like muggles."

"James, table manners." Mrs Potter reminded causing James to painfully gulp down his juice. "Sirius we got some things for you. James said you like quidditch, wizard chess, and oh what was the other thing?"

"Muggle music." James reminded with a mouth full of food.

"James table manners." Mr Potter said sternly. "James said you support England, is that true?"

"Yes, sir. But I think James might be converting me a bit. I was rooting for Ireland in the last match against the Nordics. Practically against my religion, but there I was covered in clovers huddling around the radio with Jamie." Sirius teased.

"It's James to you." He warned pointing his fork at him. "Ireland is a better team anyway."

"Ireland won the last match didn't they?" Mr Potter asked supporting his son.

"Yes but that was _years_ ago," Sirius argued. "They have a much better team now. Halovic's they're seeker and he's the best I've ever seen."

"You just say that because they beat Romania because of him. They lost to Finland and they suck this year." James argued.

"Well, we won't know until next year, won't we boys." Mrs Potter soothed, looking pointedly at her husband.

"Yes, Mum. Dad's already got us tickets to see the tournament. Do you think you could come?" James asked.

"We're already planning on going," Sirius answered though he wasn't sure he would be able to go after sneaking out last night.

"Great! I'm sure Ireland will make it, maybe England will, but if they do won't it be fun to see." James started to babble excitedly about the bets they could make against each other.

"Alright enough it's Christmas, they'll be no feuding, friendly or otherwise." Mrs Potter interrupted ending the debate.

"Sorry Mum," James said scraping up the extra frosting from his plate and eating it with his fingers.

"If you boys are done I think we can make our way into the drawing room." Mr Potter said.

"I'm done!" James yelled jumping up from his seat causing the chair to hit the wall.

"JAMES POTTER!" Mrs Potter yelled as James ran from the room.

"Thank you, Mrs Potter, that was delicious," Sirius told her stifling his laughter. He got up much more calmly and followed after James laughing all the way.

"What's so funny?" James asked as they zeroed in on the Christmas tree.

"You're mum. She reminds me of Maggie." He chuckled as he bent to kneel next to his friend. "Remember when you transfigured Snivellus's desk into a rabbit?" James nodded his confirmation, too focused on finding the right present for anything else. "Well she made the same face, even sounds a bit like her. I wonder what would happen if she found us out of bed after lights out?"

"She'd lecture us about the importance of a proper sleep schedule," James answered examining one of the boxes.

"Exactly like Maggie, though she'd make us write an essay on it," Sirius smirked picking up a parcel with handwriting he recognised.

"She can't help it. She's a teacher." James remarked.

"Is this from Remus?" Sirius questioned holding up the parcel he was holding.

"Oh yeah! I completely forgot! He said it's for both of us. He didn't want to send anything to your place, thought he'd get you in trouble. Think he know's what happened." James said excitedly.

"It was kinda hard to miss," Sirius muttered. "Should we open it together, or should we wait for your parents?"

"It's only from Remus they won't mind," James said taking the opposite end. They both tore open the brown paper to reveal a thin white cardboard box.

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

"It's a box," James said plainly.

"I know that but what is it, did he say anything about it when he sent it to you?" Sirius asked.

"Just that he'd thought we find it perplexing at first, but that we liked puzzles so we should find it entertaining. His words not mine. He writes a bit odd, like the old books, what's that one called? With the foxes?" James asked.

"I've written him before mate, I know what he writes like," Sirius said.

"I know that, but I was just saying. He writes like an old person." James continued.

"You mean he writes like someone who's older than nine?" Sirius smirked.

"Are you accusing me of writing like a nine-year-old?" James said.

"You get distracted easily. That's all. Can we open this now." Sirius responded bringing James's attention back to the box.

"I don't feel like being perplexed," James said.

"He'd said we'd enjoy it," Sirius argued.

"He said entertaining and perplexing." James returned. "In the same sentence! I swear I have to read his letters three times before I catch everything he has to say."

"We can talk about your reading comprehension skills later. _Can_ we _please_ open this? I feel like it's something really good." Sirius said squirming a bit.

"Well, you're usually right." James shrugged. He lifted the top of the box. The contents were wrapped in cotton. "Ooooo it's fragile," Sirius claimed the cotton wrapped gift out of the box.

"It's a mirror. Or two pieces of it. Do you think it broke on delivery? It has been windy lately." Sirius said after removing the cotton.

"Let's see." He said making a grab at his ankle. "Oh, I left my wand. Do you have yours?"

"Yup." Sirius pulled his out of his sleeve, laid the mirrors on the floor, pointed his wand and said "repairo." The mirrors formed back together for half a second but fell apart again.

"Maybe you did it wrong," James said taking Sirius's wand. "Repairo." Again the mirror formed back together only to fall apart once more.

"Guess it's supposed to be like that," Sirius said snatching his wand back again.

"Must be a joke," James said turning back to the tree.

"Remus is better at pranks than that. Last year he slimed the whole Slytherin team remember." Sirius answered, picking up the pieces to examine them again.

"Oh, that's right. Ha! They were red for weeks!" James laughed. Sirius ignored him. He waved his wand over the mirrors hoping to find any trace of enchantments. "He did say we'd find it perplexing."

"And entertaining." Sirius reminded.

"Why do you think he'd think we'd like perplexing?" James asked.

"Because we do. Remember last year when we were trying to find Lockhart's missing cat. We went on for a month with that one." Sirius answered.

"Yes but there was action in that," James argued.

"Maybe there is with this, we just haven't found it yet." Sirius returned.

"Alright, boys! Your wait is no more!" Mr Potter called as he entered the drawing-room with his wife and his aunt on either arm. Sirius jumped and shoved the mirrors back in its box though he wasn't really sure why.

"Did you already open one?" Mrs Potter said with her hands on her hips.

"Just the one Remus sent," James answered.

"Well thank you for waiting." Mrs Potter smiled warmly before sitting next to her husband on the couch. "James we wrapped yours in red and Sirius yours in gold. We figured Gryffindor colours would be best."

"Thank you, Mrs Potter." Sirius smiled. "And you Mr Potter. I don't know why I didn't think to bring anything for you I'm sorry about that. I'll have to send something."

"Oh, that's alright sweetheart. We're happy to do it." Mrs Potter smiled.

With a confirmation from Mr Potter and an impatient reminder of the still-wrapped gifts under the tree from James the boys ripped through the pile of presents not really caring whos was whos. James got a new broom, several books, two on defensive magic and one called Handy Transfigurations, a joke box set from his uncle who advised him to keep it hidden from his mother and German Chocolate Frogs from Peter. Sirius got a chess set that was carved to be shaped like lions, a muggle record from a band he had yet to hear and "Quidditch Through the Ages" and some Fizzing Whizbees from Peter.

"Best Christmas Ever!" The boys exclaimed when Mr Potter asked how they did that year. Mr and Mrs Potter went off to make Christmas dinner. Aunt Muriel was still dozing in an armchair. James and Sirius were sprawled out across the ripped paper and strewn boxes. Sirius rolled a lion shaped knight in between his fingers as James began to read "Handy Transfiguration."

"I never thought people would give _you_ books for Christmas," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"They always do. Once they found out what my favourite classes were." James answered. "I've got about a dozen transfiguration books in my dad's study. If Maggie only knew." James joked causing Sirius to chuckle. "You know I'm kinda wondering what those mirrors are all about."

"Strange, I didn't think you were interested at all." Sirius teased.

"Presents, Sirius. I was surrounded by marvellous Christmas mystery." James explained looking at his friend.

"We should write him and demand an explanation!" Sirius smirked.

"Eh, he'll be here tomorrow." James shrugged.

"I thought you said he wasn't coming?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, that was before. I guess he told his parents about us and that we know so they want to meet us. They're gonna spend New Year's with us." James answered. "Which reminds me, we usually go to Scotland for Hogmanay. That okay?"

"Yeah, but why?" Sirius questioned.

"They have this huge festival that Mum likes. You'll see." James explained.

Sirius felt a sudden weight fall over him like he might not be able to go. His parents should have received his letter by now and yet there was still no word. He tried to tell himself that this was a good sign, not a bad one.

"Will Peter be back by then? Maybe he'd like to join us." Sirius said trying to distract himself.

"Don't know. I'll write to him tomorrow. We're not leaving till Saturday anyway." James said climbing to his feet. "Want to break in my new broom?"

"Definitely," Sirius said jumping to his feet and following James out to the garden. The boys took turns flying around and showing off on James's new broom for hours until they got bored. Sirius ran up to get a spare broom so they could play one on one quidditch which is really just throwing a quaffle back and forth.

The next day when Remus came, James and Sirius both spent the morning bombarding him with questions about the mirrors. They quickly learned how stubborn their friend was for he refused to tell them anything and told them that "if you had an ounce of brain, you would have figured it out by now."

Sirius's foreboding feelings about his parents proved to be true when his father's owl came with a letter addressed to him, in his mother's handwriting. The letter instructed him to return to Grimmauld Place immediately, using the Floo network to avoid any travel delays. Sirius, who was in James's bedroom to read his letter privately, began to pack upon reading the first sentence. By the time he heard the booming footsteps of James running up the stairs he was already finished. James and Remus fell laughing through the door.

"We came to check on you, mate," James said after clearing his throat. Sirius' face seemed to portray all of his emotions despite his effort. "What the matter?"

"My parents just want me home, that's all." Sirius shrugged. "I shouldn't have snuck out. I don't know what I was thinking."

"If your parents are just coming back now you would have been locked in your room for two days," James argued. "You gotta have some control over your life, Sirius, you're not a child."

"How bad do you think it's gonna be?" said a very concerned looking Remus. Sirius just shrugged and fell onto his trunk.

"Alright I'm gonna ask you a question, and you're probably not gonna like it but just answered it honestly," James ordered. Sirius nodded. "Do your parents ever hit you?"

"No!" Sirius laughed bitterly. "No, they prefer psychological warfare I guess. Besides if they actually had to touch me I think they'd drop dead on the spot."

"If they ever do, you'll tell me?" James said shaking the laughter out of his friend. Sirius nodded again looking at his shoes. "You promise."

"Yeah man. If you try to kiss me I'll hex you." Sirius joked trying to lighten the room.

"Sirius?" Remus said firmly. "Maybe-."

"I'm alright Lupin, really. I'll be alright." Sirius said, all the humour had left his voice.

"Yes, but maybe you could stay for lunch. Have something to eat before you go." James suggested.

"The longer I make them wait the worst it'll be," Sirius said shaking his head. The room fell silent and grossly sombre. Sirius fidgeted uncomfortable with the heavy air but knowing that if he made a joke he would be chastised for not taking the issue seriously. James and Remus fought to keep down those unspoken words that would probably make Sirius stay.

"Well don't forget to pack your half of the mirror. Might be useful during your imprisonment" Remus half-joked. "And that's they only clue you're getting so don't ask."

"You call that a clue?" Sirius yelled.

"You're terrible at this Lupin, really," James smirked.

"It really is so simple, once you get it you'll kick yourselves." Remus laughed.

"I still think this is a joke, Sirius. A ploy to watch us struggle until our brains explode from over exertion." James said.

"Nah, he's not that cunning." Sirius laughed. "I really should go, though. You'll walk me out?"

"Walk you out? We're flying with you, mate." James told him.

"I've gotta use the Floo." Sirius shrugged. James mouthed an oh and nodded. "Where is my half?"

"In my desk," James said striding over to get it for him.

"Cheers," Sirius said stuffing it into his pocket.

The three of them walk smiling and joking down the steps although each of them were hiding their true feelings. Sirius hid his panic very well but Remus noticed the slight twitch in his eye before he hid it with his shaggy hair. James knew that his friend was lying though how much he was, he did not know. Each friend had a dire need to protect the was because of this neither of them did anything. So Sirius disappeared in a rush of green flame with a heartfelt goodbye and a promise to seem them in the new year.

****Sorry for the late update! I kinda struggled to get through this one so tell me what you guys think XO*****


	6. The Hogwarts Express

Chapter 6 The Hogwarts Express

Sirius was trying desperately hard to get away from his incessantly talkative house-elf and his brother who insisted on listening to him. He ran straight through the brick wall between platforms nine and ten and disappeared in the chaos of a cart collision he may or may not have caused in his haste. He charmed his trunk to be lighter and ran towards the opposite side of the platform before his brother could catch sight of him through the crowd. When he thought it was safe he slowed his pace and started looking for his friends. He spotted Peter talking to his mother a short distance away.

"Happy birthday," Sirius said in a creepy voice after sneaking up behind his friend. Peter jumped and squealed, his heart racing with fright.

"Sirius! You shouldn't sneak up on people. I nearly wet my pants." Peter said with relief after realising who it was behind him.

"That would be unfortunate." He grinned. "You must be Mrs Pettigrew. Peter talks about you all the time."

"It's Ms Harper. Pettigrew was my married name." She said taking his hand. Ms Harper had a firm grip that naturally went with her appearance. She wore a pantsuit, though it wasn't tailored it fit her nicely. She was broad-shouldered and small waisted giving her a manly frame. Her face was shrewd and calculating. It did not have an ounce of the motherly look Mrs Potter had but it wasn't harsh like his mother's.

"Oh, sorry," Sirius responded looking to Peter wondering why he never said anything. Peter refused to look back at him, instead he stared blankly at his mother.

"Don't worry about it. I suppose I should let you get on the train now. Here's money for the trolley." Ms Harper handed a galleon to her son and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder causing him to look into her eyes. "You work on getting your grades up. And so help me if you get one more detention, one, I'll-"

"Yes Mum, I know. I'm sorry." Peter said his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Don't interrupt me I'll not have you ending up like your father. You'll be a good boy, you'll get good grades, and you'll do well in life." Ms Harper said crossing her arms and straightening her stances so she stood over her son.

"Yes, Mum," Peter said meekly.

"Come here." Ms Harper pulled Peter into a hug which he returned reluctantly. "I'll see you June." She said releasing her son. She turned and left without another word. Sirius had taken out a red leather book and was now staring intently at it.

"Strange." He muttered.

"What?" Peter questioned nervously.

"It says here on the 8th of January, Peter Pettigrew's birthday," Sirius said pointing to the day and showing it to Peter. "We celebrated your birthday on the 8th of January for three years, you'd think someone would have corrected us during that time."

"That is my birthday." He answered.

"And today is the 8th of January?" Sirius questioned feigning confusion.

"We celebrated my birthday on the weekend, that's why she didn't say anything." Peter rolled his eyes. "You keep a planner?"

"Of course. I'm terrible at remembering dates. I'd never get anything done if I didn't." Sirius answered.

"Not even Remus keeps a planner," Peter smirked.

"He remembers dates," Sirius responded.

"James doesn't keep one," Peter argued.

"What sort of dates does James have to remember?" Sirius said growing irritated.

"Speaking of, have you seen him?" Peter digressed

"No, he's always late. Last year he barely made it." Sirius told him. "Merlin. Come on, let's get a compartment before they fill."

They boarded the train helping each other carry their trunks. They found a compartment near the door so they could see when James got on. Peter told Sirius all about his holiday in Germany and even though it was uneventful Sirius listened. That is what Peter liked best about Sirius. He listens and asks questions about his stories. He didn't ask questions about things he did not want to talk about, like his mother. James, on the other hand, would have ignored everything he had to say about Germany and go straight for the throat. Even Remus would have asked about it, eventually. Sirius didn't ask unless you brought it up. Only when the conductor called out "ALL ABOARD!" did Sirius interrupt Peter. James had yet to get on board and though it was a tradition by now for him to be late, he was never this late. They dashed over to the compartment across the way, ignored the protest of its inhabitants, and pressed their faces against the glass hoping to see the messy haired boy run through the sea of waving parents. The train lurched into motion with no sign of James Potter. They split up to search the compartments for their friend, deciding that he might have slipped by without their noticing.

"Did you find him?" Peter asked when they met up again.

"I take it you didn't either?" Sirius said shaking his head.

"What about Remus?" Peter questioned.

"I didn't think he'd come, it's a full moon today." Sirius shrugged. Sirius spotted his brother walking down the corridor glancing into each compartment. "Regulus! Have you seen James?"

"Sirius. I've been looking for you since we got on the platform. Mum told us to stay together." Regulus said approaching the pair.

"Have you seen James?" Sirius repeated.

"James?" Regulus questioned.

"Messy haired kid, glasses, just a bit shorter than me," Sirius said.

"Oh. No. Why do you look so worried? He's probably just having an extended holiday." Regulus said.

"He would have written." Sirius shook his head. "Listen, Reg, I need your help."

"Mum said I can't hang out with you at school. You get into too much trouble, and hang around with-" Regulus stopped mid sentence and looked at Peter for the first time since he approached.

"This is Peter. And we won't get in trouble. You've got your broom right?" Sirius said placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Yeah, but-"

"Reg. I need you," Sirius said seriously. Regulus's eyes shifted between his brother and Peter obviously torn between a promise he made to his mother and the love he had for his brother.

"Fine." He conceded turning back to his own compartment to get his broom.

"Thanks, Reg. Met us in our compartment." Sirius yelled running in the opposite direction.

"Uh Sirius, There's someone in our compartment," Peter yelled over the crowd of people trying to buy stuff of the trolley which Sirius was stuck behind.

"Do no tell me that it's James. So help me, Merlin I will castrate him and feed it to my owl," Sirius said fighting his way through hungry pubescent children.

"Nope, its worse," Peter said shaking his head. "You know that girl that hangs out with Snape?"

"The ginger? Oh, don't tell me Snively's in there." Sirius said scrunching up his nose.

"No, but there _is_ someone else," Peter responded.

"Who?" Sirius said finally breaking through the crowd. He looked into the glass of their compartment door and saw Lily Evans, commonly known as "the ginger" in their group, and Mary Mcdonald giggling with each other. He slid open the door rather aggressively startling the girls. "What are you doing in here?"

"It's our compartment," Lily told him.

"We were here first." He said pointing to his marked luggage.

"Oh, well I'm sure they'll be enough room for the four of us," Lily said moving closer towards the window.

"We were looking for James. You haven't seen him have you?" Peter asked taking the seat she freed up. The girls shrugged and shook their heads.

"Maybe he's still on holiday." Mary offered.

"Don't you have a Slytherin to go and play with?" Sirius said bitterly.

"No, he has other friends," Lily said ignoring his tone.

"And you don't." Sirius bit back.

"Obviously I do," Lily responded gesturing to Mary.

"Sirius, all the other compartments are full. Maybe we could call a truce until we reach Hogwarts." Mary suggested.

"I seriously doubt you have no other friends." Sirius scowled.

"We have other friends, Black. Eilidh's with her brother, Marls is with her boyfriend, we were sitting with Josie but she started being her usual insufferable self, so here we are." Lily said seeming to dare him to speak any further.

"We have things we need to do," Sirius spoke taking her dare.

"We'll help." She decided.

"You won't like it." He answered.

"Try me." She smirked. Sirius eyed her up and down seeming to search for any hidden marks of rebellion.

"Even if you don't, you have to promise not to sell us out." Sirius said stepping into the compartment and closing the door behind him. Lily and Mary promised. Sirius refused to go over the plan until his brother got there but with each passing minute he grew more and more anxious. Finally Regulus arrived carrying both his trunk and his broom.

"Did they kick you out?" Sirius said incredulously.

"You're a Gryffindor, our sworn enemy." Regulus reminded him.

"You're so over dramatic." Sirius rolled his eyes help his brother with his trunk.

"Says you." Regulus defended.

"Boys!" Lily yelled interrupting Sirius's response. Sirius clamped his mouth shut and Regulus mutter "sorry" both of them startled by the command. "Now, will you tell us what's going on?"

"Right," Sirius said clearing his throat and moving to the centre of the compartment. Regulus took Sirius's seat next to Mary. "As we all know James is missing."

"Sirius, as they said, he might still be on holiday." Peter interrupted meekly.

"Did he tell you that?" Sirius questioned. Peter shook his head in response. "And where does James live, Pete?"

"Windsor," Peter answered feeling as if he were in class and had asked a stupid question. Regulus and Mary nodded their heads knowingly. Lily still looked confused.

"You two don't read the paper?" Sirius asked addressing Lily and Peter.

"Muggle-born," Lily reminded raising her hand. Peter shook his head.

"Oh, Merlin." Sirius said rolling his eyes and dragging a hand over his face. "There was a series of attacks from the death eaters in Windsor over the holiday, around the time they would usually come back from Scotland. The Potters are well known blood traitors. I haven't heard from him since I left his place."

"Neither have I. He wished me a happy new year but nothing since" Peter said sitting up straight finally matching his friend's concern.

"And you think something's happened?" Regulus asked wide eyed.

"He would have written us if he had other plans," Sirius said firmly.

"Wouldn't his name be in the paper if something did happen?" Lily argued.

"There were several families unaccounted for, they didn't give names," Sirius told her. They all looked pale and worried though three of them didn't know him half as well has Sirius and Peter did.

"What are we going to do," Lily said with a determined look on her face. Regulus already had his broom in his hand, ready for what was to come.

"We're gonna sneak off this train," Sirius smirked grabbing the two brooms from the self in front of him. "Evans, have you got a broom?"

"Nope," Lily said opening the window. The cold winter wind blew in whipping her hair about her face.

"You'll ride with me then. Peter and Regulus stay on my sides, and Mary you take the back. We'll climb on top of the train and then take flight. We stick closely together and keep your wands ready. Regulus if there's an attack you stay behind me, you're not trained as much as us." Sirius ordered making a move to climb out the window.

"Wait a minute!" Regulus protested dragging his brother back to the floor by his robes. "I can hold my own in a fight. Radagast said that I'm doing so well in defence he might get me into one of the higher classes this term. I just have to take a test to see what level I'm at."

"That's great, Reg, but death eaters aren't defence class. You've never duelled before." Sirius argued.

"Neither have you!" Regulus returned.

"Have so," Sirius answered.

"Shut up!" Lily yelled once again silencing the boys. "Regulus if, on the off chance, there is an attack get behind your brother and attack from there. Peter, you'll get behind Mary. Don't argue, I've seen you in defence. Settled?" The four of them nodded. "Good. Let's go get James."

Lily started to climb out the window. Mary followed, then Regulus, Peter, and Sirius last. Mary, Peter, and Regulus mounted their brooms and hovered above the train. Sirius mounted his and was about to pull Lily off her feet when four thick ropes whipped out of nowhere and pulled them back onto the top of the train with a thud.

"Not on my watch you don't!" The trolley lady yelled with her wand pointed at them. It was clear now that she was the one who was pulling them back onto the train. Mary, Sirius, Peter, and Regulus still struggled with their bonds as she came closer and closer.

"You can't keep people tied up like this!" Lily yelled after Mary nearly fell off the train but was able to catch Regulus's outstretched hands just in time, her broom, however, was not so lucky.

"I'll release you once your back on the train." She yelled grabbing hold of Lily's arm. She led the five of them back to the window above their compartment. They climbed back in one by one and as promised the trolley lady released them from their binds. She shot a gecko shaped patronus out into the hall to send for one of the trains recently appointed aurors. The auror approached them with a stern face and a decisive march, his fingers clenched into a fist.

"What is this about?" He barked at the lady.

"These five tried to get off the train. I need you to guard them till we get to Hogwarts." She answered unflinchingly.

"I was appointed to guard the train from dangerous dark wizards, not babysit a bunch of children." He scoffed turning to leave.

"You were sent to prevent an attack that will never happen. Unless your job is to sit and do nothing you'll watch these children. If they get out, there _will_ be an attack." She said. The Auror scowled at her as she walked past. He stood in door way glaring at the five of them.

"Guys!" Yelled a voice from the corridor that sounded terribly familiar. "Guy! You will not believe!" James Potter stopped in front of the guarded compartment wild-eyed and out of breath. "Someone's trying to get off the train!" He grinned at Sirius ignoring the Auror completely. Sirius glared back at him, while the others exchanged looks of thorough confusion."What's with you? Why's he here?"

"You git! I swear if this is a prank- if you did this on purpose! I was so worried!" Sirius ranted pointing a finger at his friend. The Auror had to hold him back for he was charging at James.

"What are you going on about?" James asked his eyes tearing between the five of them.

"What are we going on about! You! You disappear, after what's happened." Sirius started ranting again.

"We were the ones that tried to get off the train," Lily explained over Sirius's rants, holding back laughter.

"We thought something happened, because of the attacks that happened after New Year's," Peter added.

"Wicked!" James grinned. Sirius lurched at James again. This time, the Auror pushed him into a seat. Sirius glared back at him with eyes so cold they were black.

"That's enough." The Auror said firmly. "I don't know what's going on here, but you need to go back to your seat. As for the five of you, sit down and be quiet!"

"Sorry Reg. Had I known I would be getting you in trouble for nothing I wouldn't have asked." Sirius said loud enough for James to hear as walked back to where he had come. They spent the rest of their journey in silence apart from Lily's random giggles as she went over the ridiculous event in her head. Sirius glared each time she burst out laughing, seeming to know what she was thinking. Peter, however, seemed to share her humour but kept quiet about it. Regulus sat miserably not knowing how much trouble he'd be in when he returned home. Mary was so wrapped up in terror, anger, and laughter that she barely noticed when the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station.


	7. Back at Hogwarts

Chapter 7 Back at Hogwarts

James was waiting for them, standing beside a carriage, flagging them down. All five of them ran up to James, Sirius ahead of them all. Sirius whipped out his wand and thrust it in James's face. James threw up his hands with a smirk on his face.

"I didn't do it on purpose, mate, I swear," James said choking on his laughter. Sirius gave him one last glare and put his wand away. "I had no idea you cared so much, _darling_ ," James teased.

"Sod off, Potter," Sirius answered grumpily and threw himself in a corner seat.

"Really it's enduring," James continued, smirking. He climbed into the carriage sitting across from his friend.

"I think we'd all like a bit of an explanation, James," Mary demanded with the other three behind her. James looked them over grinning from ear to ear.

"Who'd have thought the great Lily Evans would have risked her neck to save me?" James laughed hoping to draw Sirius out of his mood.

"Shut it, Potter, before you really need saving," Lily answered with a dangerous look. James clasped his mouth closed still smiling at her. Lily glared back at him. "You gonna answer her or not?"

"Evans, make up your mind. Do you want my answer or do you want me to shut it?" James smiled.

"Answer the question!" Regulus, Mary, and Lily yelled back at him. Peter, being startled by this, climbed up into the carriage taking a seat next to the fuming Sirius.

"Alright, alright. I got there early, like unnaturally early. Mum was tired of being late so we got there an hour before everyone else, woman's insane." James rambled causing Lily to roll her eyes and Mary to demand he speed up his explanation. "So I got a compartment, and was gonna save it for you gits, but then these girls showed up. And they started asking me questions about quidditch, 'cause, you know, I'm on the team." He paused to ruffle his hair and look pointedly at Lily and Mary. "And the next thing I know the train's moving, and you two are nowhere to be found, and the girls still wanted to talk, so I stayed. And then people start buzzing about someone trying to sneak off the train, and I knew you'd want to hear about that so I went off to find you. You know the rest."

Lily placed her elbow on the carriage and rested her head in her hand trying to hide her laughter, knowing it would only irritate Sirius even more. Mary stared incredulously at him and Regulus looked almost as irate as his brother.

"We should head up to the castle," Regulus spoke climbing up into the carriage placing himself next to James.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. James Potter." James said holding out his hand for Regulus to shake.

"Regulus Black." He said stiffly. He took his hand reluctantly and made room for Mary.

"Oh! Sirius is this your brother! I think he's grown since September. I can barely recognize him." James exclaimed trying once again to distract his friend. Sirius only grunted in response as their carriage lurched forward. James's face fell. He looked to Peter hoping he'd offer some assistance but Peter only shrugged. "Did you cut your hair? I thought you were trying to grow it out."

"Mum cut it because I snuck off to your place." Sirius accused. James's eyes narrowed thoroughly confused by his usually joking friend.

"Did you ever figure out what those mirrors were for?" James asked desperately.

"Potter, if you don't mind, I'm not in the mood for chit chat." Sirius said looking at his friend for the first time since he got into the carriage. James nodded trying to swallow down the lump in his throat. Sirius took a deep breath in order to calm himself. He no longer looked angry but deep in thought. James took this as a sign that it was alright for him to speak as long as it wasn't directly to Sirius. So James spoke to the other four, trying to be as funny as he possibly could to attract his friend but was unsuccessful. His humor helped ease the tension between the other four. They were dropped off in front of the castle's front door. They marched up the steps still chatting with each other as Sirius stayed thoughtfully silent. All troubles seemed to be gone with the others as they made their way towards the Great Hall.

"Potter, Black!" Professor McGonagall called bringing the group to a halt. "You five are the ones who tried to sneak off the train?" She asked referring Sirius's rescue squad. They nodded solemnly. "Potter, you go off to the feast. The rest of you come with me."

"Sorry Professor, but I'm sort of the cause of all this." James said shamelessly. "I should probably come with."

"Yes, I suppose so." She answered arching her brow. They followed after her too nervous to notice their empty stomachs. She took them up into her office rambling about how appalled she was by their actions along the way. She ordered them to shut the door behind them as they squeezed into her small office. "Potter, since you're the cause of all this, you start. Tell me what happened."

James told his tale from start to finish, though it was slightly different than the one he told the others. Sirius looked at him sideways through squinted eyes as if trying to see the tiny brain waves that floated around his head. James had made it seem that he had purposefully set Sirius into a frenzy, knowing that he would do something drastic. "It was all for a laugh, you see," he finished. Sirius was mystified by James's confession. He believed James's original tale completely, but the one he just told seemed to fit the situation so it no longer seemed like a ridiculous mistake. Professor McGonagall nodded thoughtfully before turning to the others.

"And what about the five of you?" She asked when she was ready.

"It was my fault, I was in on it." Sirius started. "I made them come with. I told Lily, Mary, and Peter that if they didn't come then they were terrible friends because James was in danger. And Reg came, because I'm his older brother and I told him to. Like James said it was all for a laugh."

"That's not-" Lily started.

"Yes, it is!" Sirius interrupted sending her a warning look.

"But we went willingly. We didn't have to go!" Lily surrendered turning back to their Professor.

"That is true Miss Evans, and that is why you will all be punished," McGonagall said firmly. "However, because Mr Potter and Mr Black blatantly exploited your friendship and loyalty, their punishment will be far worse." Lily huffed disappointed by the lack of justice but felt unable to help.

"Professor, if I may be so bold, I don't believe my brother deserves any punishment. You see, our mother threatened him with a severe punishment if he did not obey me while at school." Sirius argued. Regulus sat wide-eyed, shocked by his brother's lies.

"I understand Sirius, but your brother does have free will. Regulus could have easily chosen not to follow you." The Professor argued.

"But you don't know our mother," Sirius said trying to appeal to his professor's softer side. McGonagall looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Ms Evans, Ms Mcdonald. You will serve detention with me for the next three Saturdays. Mr Black and Mr Potter, you'll be with Madam Hooch helping her give the first years flying lessons every Friday, and on your Saturdays, you'll help Hagrid with his tasks, a month for each. 100 points will be taken from Gryffindor. Each of you parents will be written to explaining the situation. Mr Black… 20 points from Slytherin for your compliance. I hope you all understand the gravity of what you have done." McGonagall concluded. Regulus nodded and quietly said his thanks, relieved that he would not be facing the wrath of his mother. "Mr Potter and the elder Mr Black stay. They rest of you may go and enjoy your meal." The four of them rose, thanked their professor, and went on their way to enjoy the feast. Professor McGonagall eyed the boys in front of her for a moment before reaching behind her and pulling out a round tin box.

"I don't want you boys to go hungry, but I know you're lying and I intend to get to the bottom of this no matter how long it takes. Keep in mind that I am very angry with you two. You put other people's lives in danger and this is in no way a treat." Professor McGonagall began. The boys nodded in response. "Have a biscuit." They looked her incredulously before taking one as she asked. She waited patiently for the boys to finish their snack before continuing. "Now that you have some food in your stomachs and your brains can work properly, why don't you tell me what happened."

"Off the record?" James asked. Sirius smirked knowing that would never happen.

"No, I'm afraid I can't do that," McGonagall answered.

"Then we're sticking with our story," Sirius said folding his arms across his chest. James smiled at his friend glad to have him on his side.

"Your story doesn't make sense. James says you didn't know, you say you did. Which is it?" The professor asked. They glanced at each other before answering.

"We all know I couldn't think of a plan that brilliant by myself." James laughed.

"Don't sell yourself short, mate. I could have never done it without you. We'll be legends for this, best prank in a century." Sirius grinned.

"This is not your sort of prank," McGonagall said firmly. "You would never purposefully put your friends in danger. You're both bright boys, I assume you know what's been going on around you."

"Of course we do," Sirius responded.

"That's part of the joke," James added

"They were all stupid enough to walk into danger like that." Sirius laughed.

"Enough. You two are not malicious and I seriously doubt that something happened, in the short period we've been away from each other, substantial enough to have changed that." McGonagall said.

"That's not the face Sirius makes when he doubts something. It's more of a pout. Like this." James said squinting his eyes and pouting his lip. Sirius roared with laughter.

"Fine," McGonagall said irritably. "If you truly did this. If you truly put your friends' and your family's life in danger, for a silly prank, then I'm afraid your punishments are not severe enough. James, you will be suspended from quidditch for the rest of the season. Sirius, you are to help the house-elves clean the dishes for a week."

"What!" James exclaimed. Sirius did not seem shocked at all by the added punishment. "You can't take me off the team!"

"I can and I have, Potter. Now if you have nothing further to say about the event that occurred on the train you may leave." McGonagall said finally.

"Yes, Professor," Sirius said standing and gesturing his friend to follow. James seemed to have lost the ability to move his jaw for it stayed open as they walked out of her office and into the nearly empty corridor. Peter was waiting for them sitting against the wall.

"What happened?" Peter asked concerned about the look on James's face.

"She took me off the Quidditch team!" James exclaimed. "Quidditch! She loves Quidditch and now she's put us in jeopardy of losing the next match. They'll never find another chaser in time! We'll lose the house cup!"

"James, just go back in there and tell her what happened," Sirius said. James looked at Sirius and seemed to regain some sense of himself.

"No, you'll get in more trouble and you might not be able to help your brother this time. Gryffindor will survive without me." He said gravely.

"I hope so, we don't want the whole team mad at you for letting them down. They might not let you on next year." This seemed to set James back but only for a moment.

"No, they'll win," James said definitely. Sirius and James turned and made their way towards the great hall.

"Wait!" Peter called. "How interested would you guys be, if I told you I saw Wilkes sneak off with Rosier and Malfoy into an empty classroom."

"Very interested," James said as he and Sirius turn on their heels to face their friend.

"It happened only a few moments ago," Peter added.

"We need the cloak," Sirius said. James pulled the cloak out of the pocket of his robes.

"Lead the way, Pete," James smirked before throwing the cloak over the three of them. They crept along the wall of the corridor with Peter in the lead. Once they reached the empty classroom Peter saw them enter James cracked the door open as silently as he could. Sirius stood on his tiptoes to see over James's head and Peter knelt on the ground to see between his legs.

"If you're going to do this Rosier, you need to be all in, no hesitations." Lucius Malfoy spoke to the third year.

"I'm in." Rosier's voice sounded steady and sure, a perfect reflection of what face showed. "Do you really have the…?" He asked gesturing to his left arm.

"Show him, Wilkes," Malfoy ordered. Geoffrey Wilkes stepped up blocking the boys' view, but it was easy to assume what Wilkes showed him. James looked back at Sirius sharing a look of brazen disbelief. Rosier made a noise that was an odd mixture of fear and excitement. James started to back up as Wilkes turned around, seeming to forget that he was wearing the cloak. He shut the door in time so Wilkes did not see that it was opened, but the three boys were already in such a panic they started to run down the corridor towards the Great Hall wanting nothing more than to be engulfed by a sea of witnesses.

"Do you really think he had the mark?" Peter whispered as they walked along the tables trying to find an empty spot.

"Shh. We can't talk about this now." James hushed. Sirius looked up and down the Slytherin table in search of his brother. "He's there," James told him, pointing to the Ravenclaw table. Regulus was indeed sitting head to head with a group of Ravenclaws. Sirius sighed in relief and pulled his friends to an empty spot at the Gryffindor table. The Great Hall was alive with bouncing children all talking excitedly about what happened over the Christmas holiday. No one seemed to have any reason to be in any state of panic except the three Gryffindor boys. They wanted nothing more than to be tucked safely away in their dorm room, far away from the Slytherin table. However, they had to keep up appearances for their already suspicious professor, so they stayed. Peter, being a nervous eater, ate an entire plate of desserts without tasting anything. James and Sirius sat silently glaring at the Slytherin table, their minds whirling with the disastrous scenarios that might come from having death eaters attending their school, too nervous to even think of food. When the headmaster dismissed them they were the first on their feet. They fought their way through the crowd and ran up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower. Thankfully James had gotten the password from a prefect on the train. They dashed their way to the dormitories and locked themselves in their room. The three boys collapsed against the door finally feeling safe.

"How could this happen?" asked a panting Peter.

"I don't know," James whispered with sweat streaming down his forehead.

"What does this mean for Hogwarts? Does this mean he's won?" Peter asked his voice raising an octave.

"I don't know," James said firmly demanding silence. James took a moment to catch his breath then whipped his forehead and stood up beginning to pace. "Sirius, you keep up with all this. What do you think?" He said turning to face his friend. Sirius looked up at him shocked to be asked for his opinion.

"I don't know. He's definitely getting stronger. I never thought he'd be able to infiltrate Hogwarts though." Sirius answered. Peter started chewing nervously on his fingers.

"You said he recruits young, just last term you said it," James reminded.

"Yes, but I never thought he'd use children. I mean Malfoy I get. He's seventeen, he's married. But Rosier, he's in our year. What the hell can he do?" Sirius argued bringing his legs closer to his chest.

"Well, I doubt he's gonna give him the mark," James added turning to pace again.

"Maybe we should tell Dumbledore about this, maybe he doesn't know," Sirius said.

"I don't think there's anything that goes on in this school Dumbledore doesn't know about. Besides, how would we tell him? He's busy," James said dismissing the idea.

"McGonagall then. She's deputy Headmistress," Sirius continued.

"She won't believe us. After what just happened she's not likely to let us off easy for falsely accusing someone of being a Death Eater," James argued.

"Then we'll get them to show her somehow," Sirius countered.

"They can hide the mark with magic, there's no way that would work," James told him.

"We can't just do nothing!" Sirius said getting to his feet.

"I don't plan on doing nothing," James responded facing his friend once more. They paused for a moment then a look crossed their faces. A look that Peter had seen many times before.

"What? What is it? What are you guys planning?" Peter demanded.

"The professors won't help us, Pete," James explained. "We've got to stop them."

"Stop them from what? We don't even know what they're planning or if they're planning. Or if it has anything to do with Hogwarts," Peter argued.

"So we'll watch them. And if we find out they're planning anything, we stop it," Sirius smirked.

"We're only third years. We can't go up against a load of Death Eaters," Peter argued.

"We're the best in our year!" Sirius defended.

"I reckon we're even better than them. Wilkes was practically cowering when we met him in November," James laughed.

"Relax, Peter. Just think of it as a game. It's all in the name of fun," Sirius said sitting next to his friend again. James quickly followed, throwing an arm around Peter.

"In the name of fun? They're called Death Eaters! As in they eat death!" Peter exclaimed. James and Sirius laughed. "It's not funny! I don't want to die."

"We won't let you die, you oaf," James told him still laughing.

"Yeah, we've got your back. All for one and one for all." Sirius added.

"All for what?" Peter asked.

"Muggle book, nevermind it doesn't matter. The point is, we've got your back just like you have ours," Sirius promised.

"'Till the end," James added.

"Even past then. We'll be watching you from the heavens, laughing at you for blowing up the greenhouse again." Sirius laughed.

"Unless there're Death Eaters," James added.

"Right, then we'll throw a party," Sirius joked. Peter laughed along with them this time.

"Remus is never going to agree to this," Peter said whipping his face, he hadn't realised he'd been crying.

"Yeah, he will. You've heard him talk about the war. It's all 'unjust' and weird stuff like that," James said.

"He talks funny sometimes," Peter said nodding in agreement.

"It's 'cause he spends so much time with old people," Sirius joked.

They ended up lining up their mattresses in the centre of the room and magically suspending their sheets above them, making a sanctuary for the three of them. They ate the rest of their Christmas treats as they spent the rest of the night planning their attacks on the newly found Death Eaters. Peter eventually came to relax due to James's and Sirius's masks of confidence. What either of them never came to admit, even when Peter fell asleep, was that they were scared out of their wits.

****Reviews are my reason for living!******


	8. Lupin's Return

Chapter8 Lupin's Return

In the days to come before Remus's return, James and Sirius made it their life's' mission to make thing difficult for the Slytherins (the Hufflepuffs too but they mostly laughed along with them.) Peter helped at first but after they got their first detention he was in such a nervous state Sirius felt compelled to tell James what he saw between Peter and his mother on the platform. James no longer urged Peter to aid in their fun after he was informed.

There were other consequences James and Sirius worried about besides detention. James had secretly hoped that he would be able to reconcile with Lily after what happened on the train. It seemed to have worked at first. The morning after the incident Lily greeted him with a small smile and a less than harsh "Morning, Potter." The friendliness went away only hours later when he decided to interrupt a conversation between her and Snape. He played the scene on repeat in his head every night trying to find where he had made his mistake. They were in the Great Hall having breakfast and discussing their new schedules. James and Sirius were arguing about who would change their schedule so they could have the same classes.

"Why do you wanna take Muggle Studies anyway?" James pouted. "It's useless. Unless you were a squib I suppose."

"I personally enjoy not being an uncultured swine. Besides, it'll upset mummy and I've got a personal vendetta against her." Sirius answered cutting up his breakfast sausage.

"For your hair?" James teased batting his eyes in a girlish way.

"Yes." Sirius hissed with a look of warning.

"How bout we ask Maggie about magical hair growth? That way your hair will be down to the floor by summer and we don't have to hear you whine about how boring Muggle Studies is." James countered.

"What makes you think Ancient Runes will be any better?" Sirius defended.

"Because Remus will be there, and were Remus goes entertainment follows," James answered.

"I thought Remus was taking Divinations?" Peter asked jumping into the conversation.

"Why would Remus be interested in a shoddy class like Divinations?" James huffed irritably. "Anyways, we agreed _last term_ that we would all take Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes."

"I didn't agree to anything. _You_ wanted to take Ancient Runes." Sirius argued.

"No, Remus wanted to take it. And we agreed to take it so we could help him keep up when he's dealing with his … furry little problem." James muttered.

"Who wanted to take Care of Magical Creatures? Peter questioned.

"Sirius," James answered crossing his arms.

"We _all_ wanted it!" Sirius returned.

"Not me! I don't want to get bit, or scratched, or slobbered on, or-" Peter admitted nervously.

"Great! You can take Ancient Runes with _me and Remus_." James said shooting a look at Sirius.

"He'd be in a different period. Just drop it, keep Divinations, and take Muggle Studies with me." Sirius smirked.

" _Or_ do the same, but take Ancient Runes." James countered. By this time James and Sirius were at each other's throats, hardly aware of what was going on around them. Peter, however, was fully aware and spotted a fellow Gryffindor crossing into dangerous territory.

"Guys!" Peter said taking hold of Sirius's arm.

"What?" Sirius yelled shaking him off.

"The ginger! Evans. She's with the Slytherins." Peter stuttered.

"Probably going to talk to her _boyfriend_ , Snively," James said bitterly

"Well, he happens to be talking to our Death Eater friend," Peter muttered. James and Sirius looked up to confirm and saw their greasy haired nemesis talking avidly with Rosier. Lily Evans skipped over to them and greeted them warmly. Rosier responded with a scowl and turned in the opposite direction. Snape decided to ignore both his rude friend and Lily's disappointed face. He moved over offering Lily a seat as he glanced over her schedule. What neither Lily nor Severus noticed was that the other Slytherins were looking at Lily with as much disdain as Rosier had portrayed upon her greeting. James and Sirius, however, did notice and were on their feet in a matter of seconds with Peter trailing distantly behind.

"Good morning. You're looking disgusting as usual," James smirked as he approached the two from behind. Severus turned around with a perfectly distinguished insult on his lips but Lily placed a hand on his shoulder holding him back.

"James, I think you're mistaken. His hair is definitely dirtier than usual." Sirius added with a complimentary air. Lily got to her feet and stood between the boys.

"Evans! You, on the other hand, are looking lovelier than ever." James smiled as he tousled his hair. Lily dramatically rolled her eyes.

"You, Potter, should get a hair brush." Lily huffed.

"Those things are useless." He responded waving her off. He took a seat next to Severus earning a deadly look from him. "Much like shampoo has no effect on, Snivelly."

"Which is why, Evans, you should come sit with people who have equally fantastic hair." Sirius grinned tossing his head, which would usually have a better effect had he not cut his hair.

"Why on earth do you think she would want to sit with idiots like you? At least here she can have an intellectual conversation." Severus scoffed, gathering his books in his arms. "Come on Lily, I'll walk you to your first class."

"Thank you, Sev," Lily said, tossing her head in the air and marching off with Severus.

"I'll see you in defence, Evans," James yelled after her. Lily turned to glare at him before returning to her previous conversation tarnishing James's hope for gaining Lily as a friend.

Sirius, on the other hand, had family matters to worry about. Though he made it unnecessarily clear that his brother was to be excluded from their schemes, Regulus seemed to take it personally when James and Sirius attacked the Slytherins. At least that's what he gathered from Regulus's use of the silent treatment. Sirius tried to explain to his brother what was going on but he refused to listen. It didn't help that his cousin, Narcissa who was married to Malfoy, had taken him under her wing. Sirius and James tried to console each other in the best way they knew how. Sirius made playful jokes at Lily's expense, earning him a halfhearted chuckle. James continually reminded Sirius that both Malfoy and Narcissa would be gone by year's end, Sirius would only nod in response and continue sulking.

Remus returned a week later. James, who was, unfortunately, the only morning person in the group, woke to find Remus's trunk sitting at the foot of his still empty bed. In his excitement, James jumped out of bed and ran across the room to shake Peter awake. Sirius, hearing the commotion, jolted awake and fell out of bed scrambling for his wand.

"James, the sun isn't even up yet!" Sirius said his voice muffled by his fallen blankets.

"Lupin's back!" James answered pointing to their absent friend's trunk. Peter and Sirius groggily stared at Remus's empty bed. James squinted at them trying to see their reactions in a dimly lit room with no glasses.

"Potter, this isn't funny. Don't mess with my sleep schedule." Peter said pointing his finger at his friend then fell back onto his pillow. Sirius wordlessly climbed back into bed and cocooned himself in his blankets.

"Okay, he isn't physically here but his trunk is," James said shoving his glasses back on his face and reached into his trunk for his robes. "That means he's wandering around the castle somewhere." James turned facing two dead lumps in the beds across the room. "Guys, we need to go find him."

"Sleeeep," moaned the deep sleepy voice of Sirius Black. Peter groan his agreement.

"If you don't get up, I'll aguamenti the both of you." James threatened. Peter huffed and rolled over. Sirius threw his arm off the bed to show that he already had his wand in hand. James paused for a moment to see if either of them would suddenly decide to do as he asked but neither of them moved. He marched over to Peter's bed first, ripped off his covers, and said "aguamenti" causing a stream of water to shoot out of the tip of his wand. Peter shrieked from the sudden wetness. He curled up into a ball, putting his hand in front of the wand trying to stop the stream of water exuding from it.

"Alright! Alright!" Peter yelled spitting out water. Sirius watched the affair with his eyes peeking through a crack in his cocoon. He laughed silently trying to give the impression that he was asleep.

"Sirius?" James threatened, turning to him with his wand raised.

"I'm up." He conceded still laughing. He rolled onto his back, throwing the blankets off of him. He stretched but fell back onto his bed still tired.

"Up means that your out of bed, not just awake," James said slightly annoyed. Sirius groaned dramatically then threw himself off his bed and stalked off towards the bathroom. "Don't take a bath now! We're only trying to find Remus!" James yelled after him. Sirius rudely told him off. "He's such a grump in the morning."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't given us such a rude awakening, and perhaps waited until the sun came up, he wouldn't be," Peter said bitterly as he dressed into his school robes.

"It's only 6:30, we'd have to get up in a bit anyway," James said shrugging him off. As they waited for Sirius's return James complained about how much he missed quidditch. Peter suggested that they could play two on two when they had the spare time. James told him it was a rubbish idea because he and Remus were terrible at quidditch and Sirius still hadn't gotten his broom back from his mother. When finally the door swung open James and Peter were at the window watching the Hufflepuffs practice quidditch.

"Took you long enough," James said not bothering to turn around.

"I thought you'd be upset that I took so long to get back but still, that was not the greeting I was expecting," spoke a sarcastic voice that definitely did not belong to Sirius. Peter and James both jumped to their feet at the sound of his voice. Remus Lupin was standing in the doorway looking travel worn but well enough. James and Peter charged at him and enveloped him in a breathtaking hug causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor.

"Guy. Still. Sore." Remus was crushed between the floor and two overly excited friends who rambled on and on unintelligibly about everything he missed that week. Sirius entered the room with nothing but a towel around his waist to find Remus still pinned to the floor under his talkative friends. "Sirius, be a mate and get them off of me."

"Can't, unless you want to see another full moon." Sirius winked stepping around him to put on his robes.

"Oh! Shut it Peter! You will not believe what Sirius said to me just before you came." James told him.

"He used aguamenti to wake us up again!" Sirius defended.

"You used offensive terms again!" James yelled back.

"I didn't call you anything. I just swore, which you can have my apologies for _if_ you apologise for waking me up the way you did!" Sirius returned. James got to his feet before disdainfully refusing to apologise.

"They've been fighting like this all week, about everything," Peter muttered helping Remus into a sitting position. Remus picked up his wand and pointed it at his friends. Peter bit his lip not sure what was to come out of attacking James and Sirius but was excited to see what Remus would come up with. Remus muttered a spell that Peter could not hear but moments after James and Sirius collapsed to the floor in a fit of laughter.

"What the hell is going on?" Sirius managed to get out.

"Remus!" James laughed. Remus released them from his charm leaving James and Sirius red in the face on their hands and knees gasping for breath.

"What did we do to deserve that torture?" Sirius asked dramatically. Peter was already laughing at his friends but this question sent him over the edge. Remus grinned at him before returning his attention back to James and Sirius.

"Doesn't matter, he'll pay for it either way!" James said grabbing his wand. He shot a spell at him before ducking behind a nearby bed. Remus shot a spell at him but missed by seconds. Sirius grinned wildly before joining them. Peter ducked around their sparking wands and hid behind his bed knowing he would never have an equal match between the three of them. With all the commotion they barely heard the seven o'clock alarm. They called a truce and agreed to go down for breakfast. Over their meal, they told Remus about everything that happened on the train and them finding out about the Death Eaters and all the events that followed. Remus listened shocked by both the news about the Death Eater and their hand in Hogwarts newly found chaos. He agreed to help as they expected but under the conditioned that they no longer attacked Slytherins and Hufflepuffs at random but only those that had substantial evidence against them.

* * *

*****Questions, comments, concerns you're just dying to get off your chest? There's a depressingly empty rectangular box bellow begging you to write it out.****


	9. Inspiration Strikes

Chapter 9 Inspiration Strikes

The beginning of February was marked by one of the worst storms Scotland had seen in years causing Hogwarts to cancel any outside activities until the storm past. This did nothing to help the war that was raging between the Gryffindor and Slytherin students. There were few teachers who could keep their classes under control during this week, one of them happened to be this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts' teacher, Professor Radagast.

Professor Radagast enjoyed teaching at Hogwarts. It was because of this he offered up his free time to any students (who would usually be outside) that had the desire for another period of his class. The students loved Professor Radagast so, for the most part, his class would be filled with students, from all houses and years, eager to learn more about his subject. Among these students, four boys showed up every day since he originally made his offer to his classes. They sat in the front row usually quietly passing notes between the four of them. Radagast didn't feel the need to interrupt them for multiple reasons. First, they usually did not disturb the rest of the class when they were otherwise entertained. Second, he found it amusing to watch them trying to sneakily pass their notes or smuggle their laughter assuming he was still in the dark. And third, they seemed to have no trouble keeping up in class despite their distraction and despite the fact that they hardly ever seemed to care for a word he had to say in class. Except for today when he announced, they'd start on werewolves a month before everyone else. All four of them perked up in their seat, heads snapped to the front of the class, each with various expressions of anticipation on their faces while the rest of the class groaned. Perhaps this is why he decided to call on one of them for the first time that year.

"Mr Pettigrew!" Radagast called over the still complaining students. The class was instantly put to silence while Peter looked up at him with eager eyes. "We'll start with something easy. Tell me the difference between an animagus and a werewolf."

"Well… a werewolf can only do it on a full moon." Peter said stuttering his answer.

"Correct, but how does that differ from an animagus?" Radagast pressed.

"Um… they can do it whenever?" Peter answered seeming unsure of himself.

"Correct again! 5 points to Gryffindor." Radagast said tossing Peter one of the sweets he kept in his pocket for particularly shy students. "And in case anyone does not know, the 'it' Mr Pettigrew was referring to, is the ability to transform," Radagast explained beginning to circle the room. "Can anyone else tell me any further differences between a werewolf and an animagus?"

"Sir," James Potter called from the front of the class. "Can an animagus choose his form?"

"No, he cannot," Radagast answered after turning to face him. "If you have any further questions about that I suggest you ask Professor McGonagall."

"But sir, are animagi subjectable to werewolf bites?" James continued.

"I can't say that I've ever heard of it being tested, but theoretically no," Radagast answered, intrigued by his question. Nonetheless, he needs to keep his class focused or else fall into chaos. "Which leads to another difference between the two, werewolves are contagious!"

Radagast continued his lecture on how to treat a werewolf bite and eventually got into how to identify one. Meanwhile, Remus sat frozen with his ears ringing. He stared at James wanting not to believe what he thought he was suggesting. He tried to convince himself that he was only being paranoid. James would never put himself at that much risk. When finally he caught James's eye, he merely smirked at him and resumed soaking in everything the professor had to say. Sirius seemed as enthralled by the lecture as James did. Peter, on the other hand, was busy folding his candy wrapper into an elegantly shaped swan. Remus stared off into the distance allowing his ears to be filled with the sounds of distant thunder. Only when the familiar sound of paper sliding across the wooden table interrupted the rain outside was Remus pulled back to reality. Remus read James's well-known scrawl

 **your burning a hole in the wall lupin -J.P.**

 _You're and_ _L_ _upin. -R.L._ Remus scribbled back _._

 **YOU'RE burning a hole in the wall Lupin -J.P.**

 _Trying to give us an opportunity to get out of this class. -R.L._

 **any particular reason why? -J.P.**

 _You're not actually planning what I think you're planning, are you?_ _-R.L._

 **depends. what do you think im planning? -J.P.**

 _"_ _Animagi aren't susceptible to werewolf bites, are they sir?" He asked as he batted his eyes wantingly sucking up to his professor. -R.L._

 **i don't know what you think is going on between me and that hairy oaf, but it is not what you think it is. i assure you. GROSS. i expect this behaviour out of black not you -J.P.**

 ** _Come to think of it, that was awfully suspicious. Keen eye Lupin. -the S.O.B_**

 _Thank you, Sirius. -R.L._

 **who invited you into the conversation?! -J.P.**

 ** _I saw my name -the S.O.B._**

 _Back on topic! Are you guys really planning on doing what I think you planning on doing? -R.L._

 **better question! do you sign your initials the SOB for the double meaning or are you really that much of a prat. -J.P.**

 _No one cares. Get back to my question. -R.L._

 ** _I thought it was an excellent question, James! Not tactfully put, but still an excellent question. I do indeed sign it as the S.O.B for the double meaning. -the S.O.B_**

 ** _Shame on you Remus. We can only afford one narcissist in the group. -the S.O.B._**

 **its definitely** **peter. -J.P.**

 ** _I was talking about you actually. -the S.O.B_**

 **Me!? your best friend? a narcissist? you know they say you become like the five people you hang out with the most. -J.P.**

 ** _So? -the S.O.B._**

 _ **So, if im a narcissist then you are too. In fact i probably got it from you. -J.P.**_

 _You guys are both narcissist! Now answer the question! -R.L._

 ** _Another more important question. Why is it that James insists upon ignoring the rules of basic capitalization? -the S.O.B._**

 _How is that more important than my question?! We're talking about life or death here! -R.L._

 **why do you two insists on picking on me about my writing skills i get it im not as pretentious as you -J.P.**

 _Sirius! Out of the conversation! -R.L._

 ** _And the points for the best insult of the hour goes to the one and only James Potter. -the S.O.B._**

 _ **Remus how dare you? After all we've been through I truly thought I meant something to you but then you chose HIM over me?! I'm hurt. -the S.O.B.**_

 _I was actually getting somewhere before you decided to but in. And what the hell are you talking about? -R.L._

 ** _And he acts like he doesn't know what I'm talking_** **about.** ** _That was a low blow Lupin. -the S.O.B._**

 **guys i think im gonna start signing J. it looks more distinguished. -J.**

 ** _Guys. I. I'm going to. -the S.O.B._**

 **going to what? -J.**

 _It's a good thing you're so pretty, Potter. We_ _are_ _going to talk about this. I don't care if I have to tie you to a chair and go in circles with you for hours! Days! You will not become an_ animagus _just so you can be with the wolf. -R.L._

 ** _Kinky. -the S.O.B._**

 **speaking of ive been thinking and the fury guy deserves a name. -J.**

 _ **Not the nickname thing again! You're terrible at coming up with them! -the S.O.B.**_

 **watch it PICKLES or I might decided to tell a certain blonde hufflepuff exactly why your called pickles. -J.**

 _ **Blonde Hufflepuff? What on earth do you mean? You've got nothing on me Potter. Also it's you're. -the S.O.B.**_

 _You've said her name in your sleep, mate._ Its _obvious. Not as obvious as James's crush on the ginger, but still obvious. -R.L._

 _We should bring back Pickles! -R.L._

 _ **ABSOLUTELY NOT! And I've never said anyones name in my sleep. Unless I was dreaming about murdering anyone who calls me Pickles. - the S.O.B.**_

 _OOOh scary! -R.L._

 **Oh, cindy! cindy, be my girl and i swear ill never reek of pickles again! -J. inspired by the SOB's sex dream.**

 ** _What kind of sex dreams are you having?! -the S.O.B._**

 **none dont need them i get plenty of action out in the real world. -J.**

 ** _What action? You haven't even kissed anyone yet. -the S.O.B_**

 **like you have! Ha HA HA -J.**

 ** _We all have. Except you. -the S.O.B_**

 **When! -J.**

 ** _Remus just before holiday kissed Peter_** ** _and _****_he kissed Trish Forbes. -the S.O.B._**

 _You swore you wouldn't tell anyone about that! It's not like I had a choice those mistletoe's are ruthless. -R.L._

 _ **Out of curiosity, which did you prefer? -the S.O.B**_

 _Trish. Peter had dry lips. -R.L._

 **y** ** _ou guys are slowly chipping away at my innocence. -J._**

 _Out of curiosity, Sirius, when did_ _you __ever kiss anyone? -R.L._

 ** _I've snogged lots of girls, lots of times. It's hard to choose just one. James, you never had any innocence, to begin with. -the S.O.B_**

 **why don't you start with your first time? -J.**

 ** _Why it was our very own Lily Evans! End of second year locked in a broom closet. -the S.O.B_**

 _I smell bull shit -R.L._

 **there is definitely a foul stench coming from his general direction though it might be the pickles again -J.**

 _ **How dare you suggest that I am lying, And pickles? Really James? Get some new material. -the S.O.B**_

By the end of the class, Remus was both frustrated and amused, as usual, with his friends. Remus crumpled up their parchment, stuffed it into his rucksack, grabbed his books, and exited the room in a rush with Peter and Sirius in his wake. James was left behind scribbling on a scrap of parchment he ripped off of his charms notes. He met his friends in the corridor and slipped the note into Sirius's hand disguising it as a friendly "see ya later" as they parted ways; Sirius and Peter to Muggle Studies and Remus and James to Ancient Runes. The note read:

 **get peter to distract remus and meet me in the dorm at lunch**

It was decided that Peter would take Remus into the library claiming to need help studying. James and Remus walked into the Great hall and found Peter sitting alone in their usual spot. Remus went willingly with little suspicion even when James announced he needed to "find" Sirius instead. Sirius was patiently waiting for him in their dorm room. (By patiently I mean he was trying to look innocent after hiding all of James's pants for taking too long.)

"So we're doing it, right?" James asked after bursting into his dorm room and shutting the door tightly behind him.

"Doing what?" Sirius asked jumping up into a sitting position.

"Becoming animagi!" He answered looking shocked that Sirius hadn't caught on.

"Oh, that! Why the hell wouldn't we?" Sirius laughed.

"Well, Remus was a bit strung up about it," James answered sitting next to his friend.

"When isn't he?" Sirius rolled his eyes. "He's just sensitive about his lycanthropy problem. Besides, what's the worst that can happen? We become werewolves too and have to turn with him on the first moon anyway."

"Or something could go wrong with the transformation. There's a bit about it in the book I got for Christmas and this guy tried it and he screwed up and had to live the rest of his life as a half horse." James shrugged. "But anyway we need fresh Mandrake leaves and we've got to keep it under our tongue for a month, that's not even the most complicated part. Professor Sprat made the second years plant the mandrakes yet?"

"Yeah, but they're still babies. Can we use them when they're so young?" Sirius answered.

"No, they have to be full grown," James answered disappointed.

"We'll have to wait 'till spring," Sirius said matching his disappointment. "Is there anything else we could do while we wait?"

"Not much. We need this moth, Slughorn might have it, if not we'll have to order it from The Apothecary." James answered.

"We'll break into his supply closet tonight and see. What else do we need to do?" Sirius questioned. James moved to retrieve his book James moved to retrieve his book "Handy Transfigurations". They sprawled out next to each other on Sirius's bed with the book thrown open between them.

"We need an electrical storm, untouched dew, and a clear full moon." James listed with his finger trailing along the page pointing out each item.

"We'll have to practice non-verbal magic." Sirius nodded as he skimmed the page. "It says you'll feel a double heart beat, that'll be weird. Peter's not gonna like this much."

"He's a bit squeamish." James agreed. "We'll do him first, that way we can both help him, then we'll go."

"How do we know we'll get that many electrical storms?" Sirius argued.

"Peter's got Divinations. I'm sure he has a book or something that can help us with that." James answered still searching the page.

"I feel kinda bad about leaving him with the Slytherins," Sirius admitted flipping onto his back.

"He's got other friends, I'm sure. Besides, he's given us great information on them." James shrugged.

"Do you think Radagast will help us with our non-verbal magic?" Sirius continued.

"Oh, yeah. Without question." James grinned. Sirius returned to helping James with his research. Both agreed that it would be best to keep Remus in the dark about their plans for the time being.


	10. An Adventure with Puffpods

"Spring!" Lily sighed as she stepped out onto the wet grass on her way to Herbology. Mary Macdonald, Eilidh Nicnevin, and Josie Archer followed closely behind. "Isn't Spring the best time of the year. Everything's so fresh and green."

"And wet!" Mary muttered trying not to slip in the mud.

"Here take my hand," Lily said offering her hand to her friend.

"Honestly they should let us use our brooms to get to class." Eilidh said tiptoeing towards the greenhouse while gripping Josie's hand. Josie screeched every time the ground made and unpleasant squelch underfoot.

"Then we wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the fresh spring air." Lily sang taking in a deep breath.

"But my shoes!" Eilidh winned. "I just got these for Christmas."

"Oh, don't be such a girl." Lily joked.

"Too late." Eilidh sighed with a shrug.

The girls finally got to the greenhouse mildly damp and up to their ankles in mud. This class they shared with the Ravenclaws, much to their relief. Had it been Slytherin or Hufflepuff the class would have been mayhem from start to finish.

Professor Sprat had them cutting open puffpods and planting the beans in large clay pots.

"Careful not to touch the beans. They will sprout as soon as they come into contact with anything solid." He instructed as he passed around the pots to the groups of four.

"How are we supposed to plant them, then?" whispered Josie.

"We'll figure it out," Eilidh said confidently as she rolled up her sleeves.

"Pass me that knife." Lily requested already prepared to cut open their pod. She plunged the knife in much too quickly and got sprayed in the face by the puffpod's juice. This would not have been a terrible occurrence had it not been for their neighbors. Four obnoxious boys happened to be seated by them at this time. Two of which saw the mishap and was currently dying from laughter.

"What a sight that was, right Potter?" Sirius Black said smugly nudging his giggling friend.

"Oh, Sirius don't be such a perv." James responded with a wink. Lily and the other girls decided it would be better to just ignore the boys and return to their work.

"What happened?" Peter Pettigrew asked.

"Guys, we've got beans to plant." Remus reminded.

"Oh, that's right Lupin thanks for the reminder," Sirius said smirking at James. "What was it Sprat said? It sprouts when?"

"When it comes into contact with-" Remus began but was cut off by Sirius magically tossing one of their beans into the center of the girls' group which sprouted immediately. The girls screamed and scattered away from the quickly growing roots. "Something solid."

Peter, James, and Sirius were all rolling on the floor laughing, not caring that their robes were now covered in dirt. Remus moved over to help Mary off the floor and to clean up the resulting mess. Professor Sprat marched over and started lecturing Eilidh and Lily about their carelessness, taking 20 points from Gryffindor. When it was all over Remus moved back to his group and suggested that they leave the girls alone.

The suggestion was taken seriously for most of the period. However Sirius found a large toad hiding in the mandrake plants and the temptation was too much to resist. He held the toad firmly in his hands, crept up behind Lily, and dropped the poor thing in her lap. Lily, naturally, screamed and threw it across the room earning another scolding and ten more points off from Professor Sprat. Meanwhile Mary, Eilidh, and Josie were berating Sirius.

"Oi carrot top!" James whispered after the professor left. Lily knew that James was talking to her but was too irate to say anything. "Carrot top!" James whispered one last time. He saw that he was getting nowhere with her so took it upon himself to give a friendly tug to her ponytail.

"How dare you, you...you…!" Lily exclaimed hitting James with her clipboard, having difficulty coming up with a proper insult.

"You irrevocable arse!" suggested Eilidh.

"Miss Nicnevin and Miss Evans! 50 points for your foul language and your bad temper. And detention this Saturday Miss Evans." Professor Sprat interrupted.

"It was my fault, Professor. I was teasing her." James spoke up.

"Enough Potter, get back to work. All of you." Professor Sprat ordered. "Ladies if you interrupt my class one more time I _will_ send you to your head of house."

The rest of the class was spent in dead silence between the two groups. Lily refused to look at any of them, even when she felt James's gaze burning into her skull. She hid her face in her herbology book and tried to fight through her anger to focus on her studies. Mary and Josie were the only ones to accept Remus's apologetic look. Eilidh, on the other hand, was perfectly happy throwing dangerous looks at the group. Much to her disappointment Sirius was the only one to return them. This and the fact that neither James nor Sirius got in trouble for the trouble they caused fueled her rage and she was suddenly out for revenge.

She walked casually by their group and when she was sure the professor was watching pretended to trip on a strewn rucksack falling into Sirius. Sirius pushed her off as James came to his defense shooting a hex at her causing their table to topple over and thousands of beans to fall onto a very solid floor. She was coughing up slugs but it was worth it for Professor Sprat's voice came bellowing through the chaos.

"JAMES POTTER AND SIRIUS BLACK OUTSIDE NOW!" Sirius and James glared at the grinning Eilidh as they made their way out of the greenhouse. Their Professor was very red in the face and huffing and puffing as he waved his wand returning the table to its rightful position. He took a deep breath trying to regain his composure. "Lupin, Pettigrew, the sprouted beans can just be placed into pots. Hopefully you can save most of your project. The rest of you, Miss Nicnevin in particular, _please_ stay in your seats."

Professor Sprat marched out of the greenhouse forgetting that Eilidh was still spewing slugs. Peter helped her to her feet and handed her a spare pot to keep the slugs contained. Josie looked at her in disbelief, Mary shook with laughter and high-fived her as she returned to the table, Lily looked at her with only concern.

"Are you okay?" She spoke as if Eilidh might have been subjected to a major injury.

"Of course she's alright! She did that on purpose." Josie said, her eyes narrow and lips pursed. Mary burst out into a loud fit of laughter at this.

"Really?" Lily grinned. Eilidh shrugged smiling though she was covered in slime. "Awesome! You knew he'd flip the table?"

"No, I knew he'd do something. Those two can't help it." Eilidh said rolling her eyes. Mary and Lily were both laughing now. Josie just rolled her eyes at them. Eilidh was still spitting up slugs and they seemed to be coming at a faster rate.

"We should get you to the hospital wing, that's only going to get worse. They hit Severus with it a few times, it was awful." Lily said taking her friend by the arm.

"Well that's something to look forward to." Eilidh joked allowing Lily to lead her out the door. They interrupted Professor Sprat lecturing James and Sirius to explain the situation. The moment the word 'slugs' was uttered he seemed to want them as far away from his greenhouse as possible. James and Sirius laughed at them causing the professor to start on them again. Lily lead Eilidh back up to the castle rubbing her back along the way to help her through the sickening process.

James and Sirius were given three detentions each for their misconduct and for their hand in Lily and Eilidh's wrongdoings. They were sent to their head of house with the hope that the reputable Professor McGonagall would be able to straighten them out. It was along the way to Professor McGonagall's office that James had a sudden need to confess something to his friend.

"I'm in love with her," James stated with an amount of certainty most 12 (almost 13) year old boys fail to accomplish.

"Yeah, she's alright mate," Sirius said not paying any particular attention to his friend's declaration.

"No, seriously! I am in love with Lily Evans." James said once again.

"I know who you were talking about. Anyone who's spoken to you for more than five minutes would know." Sirius teased.

"I meant I am really in love with her. Like the sappy stories mum reads. I didn't realize it before, then she started yelling at me and hitting me! Man she's got spunk!" James rambled.

"Yeah, so does Nicnevin. Did you see the way she was looking at us?" Sirius laughed. "We have to get her back for that."

"Sirius, please!" James said.

"Alright, you're in love with Lily Evans. What are we going to do about it?" Sirius smirked anticipating James's brilliant plan.

"We've got to win her over," James said coming to an abrupt stop.

"Right. Why?" Sirius continued turning around to face him.

"Because I'm in love with her and she hates us," James said blankly his eyes narrowed in deep concentration.

"Nah, she doesn't. She just doesn't like when we mess with Snivellus, there's no way we're giving that up, he's too much of a prat. Definite Death Eater material. He already hangs out with _Luscious_ Malfoy, and Rosier, and Mulciber." Sirius answered though James wasn't paying attention. James was about to tell Sirius about the plan he had come up with to win Lily over when McGonagall rounded the corner and cut him off. They were greeted with yet another lecture, more points were taken from Gryffindor, and they were to serve their detentions with her to find a way to make it up to Lily for getting her in detention. She sent them to their dorm room for the remainder of the class period. It wasn't until they reached their dorms that Sirius brought up what he really wanted to talk about.

"The Mandrake's are ready!" Sirius said reminding his friend of what he thought to be a more important and exciting topic.

"Guess we're spending the night in the greenhouse instead of the kitchen." James muttered with a far off look. He moved to the window to immerse himself in his daydreams. Sirius, rather than drowning in boredom, went to the common room to seek entertainment from some of the older students.


	11. The Bond of Brotherhood

Chapter 11

Their first detention was to be served directly after dinner with Professor McGonagall. At least that's what the note they received during Care of Magical Creatures read. They had scheduled an eating contest during that time with Remus, Peter, Frank Longbottom, and Gabe Pevensie. The betting pool was up to 100 galleons. Yet, much to the disappointment of their peers, they decided to go to detention instead, and their contest was rescheduled for the weekend. This is exactly the reason why they were so upset to be sitting outside of a locked classroom with no sign of their professor. They had just resolved to return to their common room and let the eating contest commence when Professor McGonagall came striding up with Professor Slughorn in her wake.

"I am terribly sorry to have kept you waiting, Potter, Black, but something of an emergency came up." She explained, unlocking her classroom door, her panic barely hinted in her voice. The three of them followed her in trying to keep up with her pace. "I have a meeting with the headmaster. Normally, I would reschedule but Professor Slughorn has volunteered to take over your detention for tonight." She said as she ran about the classroom stacking papers onto her desk. Sirius rolled his eyes at James who grimaced in return but neither said anything.

"Professor, if you don't mind my asking, what was the emergency?" James spoke sounding only mildly curious.

"I do mind, Potter. It is not a matter for students to be concerned about." McGonagall said sharply, gathering the large stack of paper into her arms. "Now I have explained to Professor Slughorn what you have done today in Herbology, so don't expect him to go easy on you. We are both very disappointed in you two."

"Oh yes, very disappointed." Professor Slughorn rocked on his feet with his hand clasped behind his back, not looking at all disappointed but actually amused. Sirius rolled his eyes again and James disguised his laugh with a cough. McGonagall shot Slughorn a look that seemed to remind him of his position of authority at the school. His mood quickly sombered, he arched his brow attempting to mirror her expression of disappointment.

"Please excuse me. I hope you gentlemen have a pleasant evening as you reflect on your wrong doings. And thank you again, Horace," McGonagall said as she led them out into the corridor.

"Not at all Minerva," Slughorn responded once again bouncing on his feet. With a swift nod of her head, she turned away from them and hurried down the corridor toward Dumbledore's office.

"Merlin, you should have seen her today boys! She came right in and smoothed everything over. If I was in her position I'd have lost my head." Slughorn laughed leading the boys toward the dungeons where his classroom was kept. "Of course that's why they made her Deputy Headmistress. No one could have been better for the job. I was here when she first started teaching, you know. She was young, fresh-faced, and so nervous. The students played one prank on her and they never dared cross her again. And I'm sure you know why."

"Professor?" James interrupted. Sirius was staying determinedly silent.

"Yes, m'boy."

"Can you tell us what happened?" James asked sounding unsure of himself. "What was the emergency?"

"Oh, just a student ended up in the hospital wing. The house rivalries get a little out of hand sometimes. But this time, the use of dark magic was suspected." Slughorn explained his voice sounding light but his face betrayed the stress he was under. Sirius's head shot up at this, suddenly interested in what Slughorn had to say.

"A student was attacked!"

"By who?

"Who was it?"

"When?"

"What happened?"

"Which houses?"

The boys shot out questions faster than Slughorn could answer. He chuckled slinging an arm over each of them.

"Now boys, there's no need to get riled up over this. You just let us take care of it," he comforted, thought they were beyond comforting.

"Who was it that was attacked, Professor?" Sirius asked keeping his voice calm.

"Oh, what was her name. It started with an M."

"Was she in Gryffindor, sir?" James asked.

"Oh, yes of course. I'm sorry, you probably know her. She's in your year." Slughorn said looking truly apologetic. "Mckinley, or something."

"McKinnon?" James and Sirius shouted.

"Yes, that's it. You know her?" Slughorn nodded.

"A little."

"We have classes together. And she's on the quidditch team."

"What spells did they use? Was it an Unforgivable?"

"Do you know who did it?"

"Bet it was Rosier, after what we saw in January."

"Now, boys. I know you're upset but you can't go around pointing your fingers at everyone. It is important, now more than ever, for us to stick together," Slughorn frowned. "That's why I started my club, you know. Every house is welcome in it to remind everyone that no house is better than the other." He raised his head proudly, sticking his belly out.

"I thought you formed your club for connections," said Sirius smugly.

"For friendships, Black, friendships," Slughorn corrected airily. Sirius shot James a look that seemed to say 'I told you so' but otherwise said nothing. They walked the rest of the way in reflective silence.

Sirius hated the dungeons. They were always a good five degrees colder than the rest of the castle. Unless they were in between classes, it was always dead silent except for their footsteps echoing off the stone walls. He found himself thanking Merlin for not being sorted into Slytherin. It was an odd feeling. He had accepted the fact that he was a Gryffindor long ago, back in first year. And he was grateful for the friends he had made, especially James. He felt sure that James would not have been his friend had the sorting hat chose otherwise, but not being in Slytherin was the start of all his problems. His mother, before that point, was attentive and hopeful, but the minute the sorting hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" for all of the Great Hall to hear he felt the weight of his parent's disappointment drag him down. It only got worse from there. Yet there he was, walking into what should have been his head of house's classroom perfectly content to be wearing his red and gold Gryffindor robe with the messy-haired blood traitor standing next to him.

James rested his arm on his shoulder, smirking at the group of students huddled in the corner. He raked his fingers through his hair, twirling it around a bit, giving it a windblown look and thrust out his chest. There she was sitting in front of the only open window. The setting sun making her auburn hair shine, darkening her skin, and lightening her eyes, almost to a lime green. She looked otherworldly. James's heart rose to his throat. He gulped it down and cleared his throat hoping to gain her attention.

"I wonder what they're doing," James said a little too loudly, yet Lily was too immersed in her conversation to notice.

"It would appear that they are making a potion," Sirius said irritably. Sirius recognised everyone in their group to be members of the 'Slug club.' A group Slughorn had been trying to get him to join since his first year. He blatantly refused on multiple occasions for multiple reasons those being; Snape, Malfoy, Narcissa, Mulciber, Rosier, Avery, the list goes on.

"Right you are, Black! I thought that this would be a good opportunity for you to make some friends in other houses, and earn some extra credit in potions." Slughorn said pushing him forward. He put him right between Mulciber and Snape. James snuck up behind and placed himself casually next to Lily Evans. "I assume you all know each other?" No one spoke. His brother, sat opposite of him, had not met his eye, and the others all glared at him, except Lily, who glared at James for draping his arm across her shoulders. "Well, some of you must know each other. There's your cousin and her husband. I am so happy for you two. And to think, if it weren't for this club, it might not have happened. That would have been a crime against nature if you ask me. And you must know your brother."

"Yes, sir," Sirius said through gritted teeth. He glared at Regulus, knowing now that he would rather leave him in the company of people who would rather see his guts on the pavement than have him in their presence than talk to him. He made his choice. Perhaps he should be happy for him, it was an easier path after all.

"Of course," Slughorn continued as though the rising tension was just nerves for meeting new people. "And there's Evan Rosier, you two are cousins of some sort I believe?"

"By marriage," Sirius stated dryly, glaring just as harshly back at him.

"And Cygnus Mulciber, who prefers to go by his surname, Cyrillus Avery, Severus Snape, and Lily Evans. Merlin, what a small turn out, I do hope there's not an illness going round." Slughorn finished.

"It's the end of the year, sir, everyone's studying for exams." It was Malfoy who broke the silence, lightening the room by the slightest degree.

"Oh of course. Well, I'm glad you all could make it, and for those of you who don't know, this is Sirius Black and his friend… erm…."

"Potter, James Potter." He said smugly, fixing his imaginary tie. Sirius and Lily seemed to be the only ones to get his reference but that was enough for him. He grinned and sat back down, moving his chair closer to Lily's.

"Right! And which potion have you decided to brew?" Slughorn asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"Draught of Peace. We figured it was appropriate, given the time of year." Malfoy answered, seeming to be the leader of the group.

"Very considerate, Luscious. I hope this won't be too difficult for you, Regulus?" Slughorn asked the first year, peering over his students to look into the boiling cauldron.

"No, sir, I've made it before at home. We're just combining the Valerian root and the hellebore syrup, now," answered Regulus, still not looking at his brother.

"Oh, good! You've only just begun," Slughorn grinned. "Sirius, do you have any experience with this potion?"

"Oh, yes. You see, Mother is a terribly nervous creature, and this potion is the only thing that will calm her down when she gets into one of her fits." Sirius stared directly at his brother who finally glared back at him. Narcissa rolled her eyes disdainfully, as her husband put a comforting arm around her shoulder. The rest of them look wildly interested in what Sirius had to say, all except, Snape, Lily, and James. James was too busy talking Lily's ear off about one of the muggle films he had seen. Lily had turned her back on James and was listening intently to Severus. Snape was glaring at James while trying to retain Lily's attention, which was very difficult because James naturally had a louder voice than he.

"Our mother has been very worried about her father. He's sick, you see. So with any delayed news, she gets a bit nervous. I wouldn't call them fits, my brother likes to be dramatic sometimes," Regulus corrected. Sirius chuckled but let the topic drop.

"I'm very sorry to hear that. Give my best to your mother when you write home next, will you?" Slughorn said sincerely. Regulus nodded, Sirius crossed his arms and leant back in his chair separating himself from the group as much as he could. "Should we get back to potions? I would very much like to see you in action, Sirius. Would you mind terribly if I put brother against brother?"

"A little healthy competition never hurt anyone," Sirius smirked, getting to his feet. James saw his movements and followed immediately, though he had no idea what was going on. Snape and Lily looked just as confused.

"Right you are," Slughorn grinned. "Now let's see… We'll have Snape, Mulciber, and Mrs Malfoy, join Sirius."

"Excuse me, sir, but I work better with James." Sirius hoped to rescue both himself and his friend from an awkward situation.

"As do Lily and me," Severus spoke.

"Yes I know," Slughorn chuckled. "I was hoping to see how you would work on your own. It would hardly be fair if I let Regulus have both of you."

"We don't mind," Sirius rushed.

"Yes, we do! He's right it wouldn't be fair," James argued. "I'd say, I trade places with Cygnus. That way we can still break up two dynamic duos." Narcissa and Malfoy, Lily and Snape glared at James as Slughorn mulled over his argument.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Cygnus - I mean Mulciber - you'll stay. The rest of you find a comfortable spot to brew your potion." Slughorn finished and walked off to his desk at the front of the classroom. James looked as victorious as the day he joined the quidditch team. Lily gave Severus a small apologetic smile before she followed the boys across the room.

Sirius's relief flowed through him and seemed to give James even more confidence. He took Lily's books out of her hands and placed them next to his chosen seat. Lily clenched her jaw but still sat next to him. Narcissa was the only one who seemed to be truly upset about the arrangement. She kept glancing back at her old group and glaring at the surrounding Gryffindors, she simply refused to help them. Being the best at potions, Lily took charge of the group. Sirius had, by far, the steadiest hands, so he measured. James stirred. Lily watched her eyes never moving from the cauldron. By the time they got their Valerian root combined with the hellebore syrup, Regulus's group was adding their unicorn horn powder. Having noticed this Sirius flared. He turned up the heat under the cauldron dangerously high, much to Lily's disapproval.

"Relax, Evans! If we want to beat the other team, we gotta catch up first," Sirius said, waving her off.

"You are going to burn it! It's not about how fast you brew it, it's how well it turns out!" Lily said, nostrils flaring. She moved to turn the heat down but Sirius pushed her hand out of the way.

"I know what I'm doing, Evans!" He argued.

"Sirius, maybe she's right. She is better than us at potions." James smirked at Lily but she was too busy glaring at Sirius to acknowledge his compliment.

"Black, move out of the way! That is way. Too. High!" Lily said, her eyebrows meeting her hairline. Sirius had turned the heat up so high that the flames now licked the cauldron's rim.

"Merlin's pants, Sirius! Turn it down." James said sternly. Sirius growled but did as James asked. Narcissa chuckled and started muttering insults under her breath. Lily sighed heavily and pushed her hair out of her face.

"What's the status on those porcupine quills, Potter?" Lily asked, taking the ladle and stirring the cauldron's contents to make sure none of it was burnt.

"Ready and waiting, Evans," James said, holding out his mortar filled with freshly crushed quills.

"Dump it in," Lily ordered, still stirring the cauldron.

"All of it?" James asked. With a swift nod from Lily, James dumped the powder into the cauldron. Large bubbles started to form causing its contents to raise to the surface, the potion turned from a murky shade of brown to deep leafy green.

"See, Evans, the potions fine! We might even have a chance of catching up." Sirius said bitterly.

"It's going too fast! We don't even have the moonstone powder ready yet." Lily answered, turning the fire down even lower. She stirred slowly trying to calm their boiling potion.

"I have moonstone powder ready in my potions set! I'll go get it!" James said jumping to his feet.

"Get the unicorn horn powder too!" Sirius called after him. James retrieved his potion's set from the 3rd year's cabinet and hurried back over to his group.

"Brought the whole thing," he said, handing the box to Lily. Lily carefully removed the phial of moonstone powder with her free hand and held it up to the light to examine it. It was perfectly white speckled with a blue-black hue.

"It's pretty pure, but we'll have to use all of it," Lily said, looking apologetically at James.

"I-it's alright!" James said tongue tied. Sirius rolled his eyes and snatched the phial out of Lily's hand.

"I'll replace it!" He said irritably as he dumped the phial's contents into the cauldron. The potion calmed and turned sky blue.

"BluUuuue Mooon." James crooned, causing Lily to giggle. He grinned at Sirius who smiled back.

"We have to let it sit now, wait for it to turn turquoise," Sirius told them.

"I know," Lily said sharply, turning away to join Severus. Narcissa jumped up and ran across the room behind her.

"Did you see that! That was a genuine laugh!" James exclaimed after Lily was out of earshot.

"You are a horrible singer, mate," Sirius teased, watching his laughing brother across the room. James followed his gaze finally catching on.

"Alright, mate?" James asked nudging Sirius's arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He turned his back on them. "Might have been taking the potions thing a bit too seriously, though, sorry."

"Eh, you can't help. You are -"

"I am Sirius!" Sirius groaned. James frowned at his friend, wanting to help him but not knowing how.

"Is this about the Slug Club thing? 'Cause even I think this was a bit much." James said gesturing around the room. Sirius didn't respond. "We should use the slug-vomiting charm against them." James laughed. Sirius chuckled wryly.

"Is it Regulus?" James whispered. Sirius bit his lip, not wanting to look as foolish as he felt in front of James.

"He's just the only one that would actually talk to me after I got sorted, ya know? And now, with the whole Slytherin thing, maybe even before then. Over break, he wouldn't speak to me for two days 'cause I jinxed Kreacher. He just talks worse than my parents sometimes, and he hates me anyway, always has." Sirius took a deep breath, already having said too much. James waited patiently for him to continue. "I just, I think our parents, and him being in Slytherin, I think it's getting to him."

"Sirius, there's no way your brother's going to end up like them! He's got you, and Andy. Trust by next year, when Narcissa's gone, you two will be fine." James said for the millionth time.

"But what if he's not! I have you, and Remus, and Peter, and Andy. Reg was too young to know Andromeda before she got disowned." Sirius argued. James for once seemed to be at a loss for words. He opened and closed his mouth, sighed deeply, and stuttered off into silence. Sirius nodded his head knowing that even James couldn't come up with a solution for this.

"Well, if I thought that you were starting to become a blood-obsessed prat, I'd stage an intervention. Tie you to a chair and force you to listen." James suggested.

"It'd probably work, but I'm not your brother." Sirius chuckled.

"Not by blood maybe." James shrugged, turning back to look at Lily. She was curled up in a corner reading a book, while Snape talked avidly with Mulciber.

"You consider me to be your brother?" Sirius said sounding shocked.

"What? Yeah, of course. I mean you've always got my back, I'm never bored with you, and Mum loves you. That's what a brother is, right?" James smirked.

"Well, yeah." Sirius agreed. The words sounded right, but thinking back he couldn't remember a time when he and Regulus ever had that. "I suppose you're like my brother too, mate. Except my mother hates you and you're not in danger of becoming a blood crazed prat." James and Sirius laughed at this. Seeing that his friend was in a better mood he took the opportunity to change the topic back to Lily. He told him about how she was actually laughing at his jokes and didn't seem at all upset with him, even though a few hours prior he got her in detention. He ruffled up his hair and puffed up his chest and put on his best grin. Sirius was both amused and irritated by this. It had become a habit for James the second he won his first quidditch match. Valencia Taylor, a well known sixth year, told him that his hair looks nice when it was windblown. Ever since then he swore off Sleekezy's Hair Potion and was constantly running his hands through his hair especially when there were girls around (particularly Evans.)

"Evans!" he called, beckoning her over. "I think our potion's finished. The porcupine quills and the unicorn horn seemed to have reacted perfectly," he said smartly. Indeed their potion was a perfect shade of turquoise, and thanks to Sirius they finished theirs only a few minutes later than the other teams, though Lily would never give him credit for it.

"It looks good. We'll have to try it, though? Is anyone feeling anxious?" Lily asked eyeing the pair. James and Sirius looked at each other quickly then shook their heads indicating that they were perfectly at ease. "Well, neither am I. Is there anything that makes you guys nervous? Potter, there's a quidditch match coming up."

"Nah, I got kicked off the team."

"That's gotta upset you a little bit." Lily implored.

"Not really. I'll just try out next year." James shrugged. "And before you ask, no I'm not worried about tryouts. Cresswell says I've for sure got a spot on the team."

"Why don't we got rile Snevillus up?" Sirius suggested, only half joking.

"No, you guys, leave him alone!" Lily said sternly, with a threatening look.

"Relax, Evans. It was a joke. Why would we do anything with Slughorn right there?" Sirius answered. "Maybe we should give the potion to you."

"Brilliant, Sirius! Lily, 'member when I pulled your hair in Herbology?" James said.

"Yes." She said shortly. "Guys, this isn't funny. We'll just give it to Slughorn. He'll know if it's good or not."

"'Member when I charmed your bag to chase you around in first year?" Sirius said.

"'Memer when I transfigured Snivelly's desk into a pig?" James added before Lily had a chance to answer.

"And his parchment into rabbits?"

"And when we blew up his head?"

"And when we made him vomit slugs!"

"Oh! When his broomstick tried to buck him off! That wasn't even us!" James and Sirius laughed until they were red in the face. Lily was fuming. She glared at them, with her arms crossed, her chest rapidly rising and falling.

"Evans?" James grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder. She shook him off and turned her back on them.

"She's ready," Sirius laughed. He scooped up the potion with the ladle and filled an empty phial so she could drink it. He tried to hand it the Evans but she tossed her head and turned away from it.

"Come on Evans, it's for the sake of education," James begged, Lily's shoulders slumped but she still didn't take it.

"The faster we brew this potion, the faster we can get out of here, and you won't have to be around us," Sirius said. Lily turned around, eyes blazing, grabbed the phial out of his hand, and drank the contents in one swift gulp. Lily licked her lips, stared at the empty bottle, and glanced back at the pair of them.

"Better?" James asked. She nodded handing the phial back to them.

"That was still mean." She said softly.

"You were doing the same to us." Sirius waved her off. He took out his wand and cleaned up their mess before raising his hand, signalling Slughorn over. Slughorn excitedly waddled over to them. Lily was so relaxed she was starting to doze off, leaning into James's side.

"Oh ho ho! I take it she, tried the potion?" Slughorn grinned, examining Lily.

"Yes, sir. Only a phial's worth." James answered.

"Well, I think it suffices to say that your potion was the more potent, I'll give you some extra credit points. Do you think you can take her to the hospital wing?" Slughorn said after trying and failing to wake Lily up.

"Yes sir, she's not that heavy," James said, pulling one of her arms around his shoulders. Sirius did the same with the opposite side and together they carried her out of the dungeons, James grinning from ear to ear. Instead of taking her to the hospital wing they took her back to Gryffindor tower. They let her sleep on the couch, not leaving her side until she was in the safety of her friend's care.


	12. Deceptive Mirrors

Chapter 12 Deceptive Mirrors

Remus climbed the never ending staircase up to Gryffindor tower. He was weighed down by a rucksack full of books and parchment. It didn't help that the full moon was near. His fight to hold off the wolf wore him down. He was sick. His head throbbed, his heartbeat was quicker than usual, his breathing was constricted, the slightest activity would break him out into a cold sweat, everything that brushed against his skin hurt like razors. He only hoped he could hide it, just for one week more. He reached the portrait and forced a smile on his face. He climbed the steps up to their dormitory focusing on taking deeper, slower breaths. As he reached out to turn the doorknob he forced himself not to wince as the fabric of his robes rubbed against his skin. He stopped short, hearing shouting from within.

"We need some sort of signal!" James's voice could be heard through the thick wooden door. Remus strained to hear the rest of it.

"No shit, James. But if we send off sparks that will alert the entire staff not just us," Sirius said, his voice sounding calm and assuring taking on his role as the advisor.

"We should ask Remus. Maybe he'll know something we don't," Peter suggested. Remus took this as his cue and opened the door.

"Should I pretend not to be insulted by the lack of invitation?" Remus smirked dropping his heavy books by his bed. All three of him looked startled by his sudden presence.

"Remus! How was the library? I hope Longbottom didn't turn you into too much of a geek," Sirius joked placing a hand on Peter's shoulder forcing him into silence.

"I haven't reached your level yet, but I think by next week I should be close," Remus returned, earning a high-five from both Peter and James. Sirius faked a laugh and gave him an empty threat. "How was detention?"

"Awful. Maggie left us with Slughorn. He basically set it up to be a Slug Club meeting," Sirius ranted.

"How terrible! You were forced to socialise. I suppose now you've learnt your lesson and won't wreak any more havoc in Herbology?" Remus smirked.

"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious," James answered.

"But why don't you want to join? It doesn't seem too bad, honestly," Peter asked.

"I'm nothing but a name to him," Sirius explained bitterly. His family was famous, so his trouble with Slughorn was only the beginning. The entire school had expectations for him. Peter nodded, understanding his issue. James ruffly patted Sirius on the back, then turned and jumped onto his bed.

"Not to mention Snivellus," James added, flipping through a quidditch supplies catalogue.

"And Malfoy, and Mulciber, Rosier," Sirius started. He grit his teeth and shook his head knowing the topic would only upset him. Remus's stomach twisted in knots at the reminder of Death Eaters attending his school. That was probably the reason why they hadn't invited him. The full moon was too close and he needed to be at full strength if they were 'pranking' the Death Eaters. He should be able to help, especially on the full moon. The wolf was stronger than any of them. He swallowed, forcing those thoughts into the darkest corners of his mind. Anything he did as the wolf would be worse than anything they would ever do. No one deserved that.

"Maybe the mirrors will help with your signal problem?" Remus suggested lightly, referring to the mirrors he had given to James and Sirius for Christmas.

"We could use them to reflect light into each other's eyes when someone's coming," James said, with a snap of his fingers. Remus smiled remembering all the nights the three of them spent trying and failing to figure out what the mirrors did. "Brilliant idea, Lupin. Guess we're all set for tomorrow then,"

"It's unbelievable that after all this time you still have no idea what they do," Remus clicked his tongue and shook his head taunting his friends.  
"Does this mean you're finally going to tell us what they do, _moonchild_?" Sirius drawled. Remus rolled his eyes at his attempted nickname. They had been throwing around ridiculous names all as obvious as this ever since James suggested it in January. Peter snorted and James smirked.

"You are not calling me moonchild," Remus argued, trying not to laugh.

"I don't think people are allowed to pick their nicknames?" Sirius returned crossing his arms.

"Fine, Pickles," Remus laughed. Sirius winced at the name but quickly regained composure.

"You should tell us what the mirrors do, oh wise and powerful moonchild," James laughed crawling to the edge of the beds. Remus thought about it for a moment, not yet wanting to give up on watching his friends struggle with something so simple.

"If I do, Moonchild is off the table," Remus demanded.

"Deal," James said, gruffly taking his hand. Sirius joined bringing Peter with him.

"Get the mirrors," Remus ordered. James and Sirius skipped off to their trucks. Peter sat cross-legged at the foot of his bed, giving him a front-row seat for what was about to happen. James and Sirius stood in front of him with their shoulders touching and identical expressions of excitement on their faces.

"Stand on opposite sides of the room then look into the mirrors," Remus told them. They exchanged looks of confusion before James backed up against the door and Sirius against the back wall. The boys peered into their mirrors but instead of seeing their own reflection they saw their counterpart staring back at them.

"Hey! I can see you!" Sirius exclaimed, bouncing up and down. His voice echoed in James's mirror delayed by only a fraction of a second.

"I can hear you!" James shrieked with excitement. "Oh, this is brilliant, Lupin. BRILLIANT!" Forgetting that they were supposed to be keeping Remus unaware, James, Sirius, and Peter immediately jumped into solidifying their plans.

"Why are you going to the greenhouse?" Remus interrupted with irritation lacing his stern voice. The three of them stared at him seeming startled by his presence. They glanced at each other slightly panic stricken.

"What do you mean?" James asked nonchalantly.

"We're already in enough trouble with Sprat, after what happened _this morning_. Maybe we should just leave Herbology alone for a bit?" Remus suggested cautiously, not wanting to argue with his friends but also not wanting to see them in more trouble. "You could go after Slughorn, maybe he'd get the hint that Sirius doesn't want to be in his club."

"We're not pranking Sprat, Remus." Sirius rolled his eyes. "We just need something, from the greenhouse."

"For a prank against the Slytherins," Peter added, quickly.

"Alihotsy. Should be hilarious. Goshawk said it causes hysteria," James laughed. Remus rolled his eyes, clenched his jaw, and tried desperately hard to hold in his argument but when Sirius and Peter added their affirmations of the hilarity of it all he couldn't help it.

"Sending armed, hormonal teenagers into a fit of hysteria would be hilarious. There's no possible way anyone else would get hurt. Nor any way for you to get expelled for drugging other students," Remus said dryly.

"Lupin," James's eyes narrowed in concern, "you usually like our pranks."

"This one's too dangerous, James," Remus said. "They're Death Eaters. The last thing we need is to give them an excuse to hurt someone." James opened his mouth to protest further but Sirius cut him off.

"Remus is right. We'll just have Peter give 'em one of his special explosions at their quidditch practice," Sirius said winking at Peter. James looked at Sirius confused but all he got was a half smile. Remus was just as confused as James but decided it was best to let it go. "I'm gonna get some sleep. Good night guys." Sirius turned away from his astounded looking friends, stripped into his pants, and jumped into bed pulling his curtains closed behind him.

"I… guess we should all get to bed." James's statement sounded more like a question but nonetheless they all followed.


	13. A Long Night

Chapter 13 A Long Night

It was hours before any of them made a sound again. Remus's loud snores were first to break the silence followed by the soft padding of Sirius's feet against the floor. He lightly shook Peter's bed causing him to immediately get to his feet.

"I knew it!" Peter whispered. Sirius shushed him as they crept over to James's bed.

James slept closest to Remus who slept closest to the door. Getting James up and sneaking out was not going to be easy. Sirius tried shaking the bed as he did with Peter but got no response. Sirius signalled Peter to follow him and they both tiptoed slowly to the side of James's bed. Sirius loudly ripped open the curtains hoping to startle his friend awake. James, however, slept on. His head was hanging over the side of his bed, his mouth slacked open causing drool to trickle down his face. Sirius shook his head in disbelief. James still had a smirk playing on his lips even as he slept. Peter poked James's arm but only caused James to mutter a bit. There was a sharp pause in Remus's snores and a ruffle of his sheets. Sirius and Peter froze, watching Remus's bed, praying he wouldn't wake up. The snores resumed and they sighed in relief.

"The silencing charm," Peter whispered, pointing to James. He took out his wand and pointed it at his unsuspecting friend. Sirius's hand flew out and forced Peter's hand to his side. Peter jumped back, bewildered by his friend's actions.

"You're rubbish at charms," Sirius whispered his explanation. Peter nodded in agreement, though he looked slightly put out. There was not another choice in the matter, though. If Peter did the spell wrong James's head would swell to the size of a watermelon in no time. They would have a hard time explaining to Madam Pomfrey why they were practising Charms in the middle of the night. So Sirius took a deep breath, concentrated on nothing else but the charm, and muttered, "Silencio," with his wand pointed at James. He smirked to himself, seeing no signs of swelling on his slumbering friend. It was a charm that most students accomplish in their fifth year. Just wait until Flitwick found out.

Peter jumped onto James's bed. James shot up, let out a silent scream, and scrambled for his wand. He thrust it in Peter's face, who tumbled backwards in fear. Sirius caught him before he could loudly hit the floor. James stared at Sirius with sweat streaming down his face, still panting from the rude awakening. Sirius set Peter down on the floor as quietly as he could and mouthed "mandrakes" at James. James then jumped out of bed with a soft thud. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and his mirror and ran out of the room. Peter snatched his coat from the hooks next to the door and chased James down the steps. Sirius dashed for his dressing gown, seized his mirror from his bedside table, and followed James and Peter out, closing the door silently behind him.

"We did it!" Peter exclaimed, collapsing into one of the chairs in their common room. "I thought for sure he was going to wake up."

"We're not done yet. And be quiet, you'll wake the dead with that noise," Sirius whispered, harshly. James grabbed Sirius by the arm and pointed to his throat, demanding he take the charm off of him. "Right, sorry, mate," Sirius said, then muttered the counter charm. James cleared his throat, finally free of his restrictions.

"Okay, we all know what we're supposed to do, right?" James asked, looking directly at Peter.

"Yes. I'm to stay inside the castle, keeping watch." Peter said, bitterly.

"No, you hide next to the stairs, in the bushes, _outside_ the castle, keeping watch," James corrected.

"Same thing," Peter muttered.

"It's a very important job, Pete," Sirius told him. "If we get caught, we won't be able to get the mandrake leaves, then we won't be able to complete Operation Animal Instincts!" Sirius smirked. 'Operation Animal Instincts' was a code name they came up with in case they ever needed to talk about their becoming animagi in public.

"I saw Filch oiling his chains while you were in detention," Peter told them, suddenly going pale.

"Exactly why you're keeping watch. Now get a grip on yourself you're supposed to be a Gryffindor," Sirius said. Peter gulped and straightened up masking his fear.

"Shall we?" James said, leading the way across the common room. Huddled under the cloak they pushed open the portrait, ignoring the fat lady's complaints about being woken up so late in the evening.

"We'll be back later," James whispered, causing her to panic about being spoken to by someone she couldn't see. Peter, Sirius, and James climbed down the step, sniggering the entire way. They froze at the mouth of the main corridor. A large misshapen figure was grunting its way through the castle's front door. The figure tumbled forward. There was a loud bang of a heavy foot and a rattle of glass before the creature regained balance. The boys relaxed when he started to drunkenly sing a merry tune in a baritone voice that way quite familiar to them. He crossed into the moonlight that was streaming through the windows and their suspicions were confirmed. It was only Hogwarts's gamekeeper Hagrid carrying large boxes labelled "POTIONS SUPPLIES." He turned around a corner and disappeared from sight. James and Peter sighed in relief but Sirius noticed that the door had been left open.

"If we go out that way, it will lead us directly to the greenhouses," Sirius whispered.

"Will we be able to get back in?" Peter asked, nervously. Their original plan was to use the secret passageway that leads out to the Black Lake, all they had to do to get back in was leave the door open. This seemed like a much simpler plan to Peter.

"Course, we'll just fly in through our dorm window," James shrugged, leading them out the front door.

"B-but… you're not on the quidditch team. You can't get into the broom closet anymore," Peter whispered, but it was too late. They were standing at the top of the stone steps with the door shut tightly behind them.

"Right…. Hopefully, one of the windows on the ground floor will be unlocked," James shrugged.

"If not we'll just break one," Sirius added.

"Absolutely not! We cannot make this anymore worse than it already it. My mum said-"

"Then we'll just have a little camping trip," Sirius smiled, thrusting his mirror into Peter's hand.

"But-"

"We'll be fine," James groaned, "just go."

Peter sulked off down the steps. He climbed over the wall, when it was safe enough, and slinked off into the bushes. James and Sirius grinned at each other before racing down the steps, the cloak billowing around their feet. Dew was beginning to form on the grass around them. James's feet cramped with cold and Sirius's slippers were soaked. They trudged through the mud and sharp twigs. James saluted the quidditch field as they passed it in remembrance of last term. Sirius rolled his eyes as they approached the greenhouse. He unlocked the door with his wand, knowing James probably forgot his. James pushed open the door letting the humid air envelop his bare chest and frozen toes. The cloak was good for many things but keeping them warm was not one of them. James threw off the cloak so they could move about freely.

"Do you have to sleep half naked?" Sirius said, as if only now realising James's shirtless form standing so close to him.

"You sleep in your pants, Black!" James defended.

"At least I've got the decency to wear my bathrobe," Sirius muttered.

"Guys, focus! Mandrakes." Peter's voice came out of the mirror clutched in James's hand.

"I thought the mirrors only worked when we looked into them?" James asked Sirius who shrugged his answer.

"To be fair, you're speaking very loudly." Peter's voice came again. James rolled his eyes, picked up the mirror, and grinned into it.

"Hiya, Pettigrew. What's the status of our hairy friend?"

"Lupin or Hagrid?" Peter questioned.

"Nice one," Sirius laughed, making his way over to the Mandrakes.

"Where's Hagrid?" James answered.

"On his way back to his place. Have you found the Mandrakes yet?" Peter asked.

"Sirius's got 'em. Peter, what's worse, only pants- nothing else, or pyjama bottoms but no shirt?" James asked. Sirius rolled his eyes snipping off one of the bottom, larger leaves with James in mind.

"Only pants. But Sirius _is_ wearing his dressing gown," was Peter's answer.

"That's practically naked!" James argued. Sirius crept up from behind him and pulled his pyjama bottoms down around his ankles.

"Now you're practically naked," Sirius smirked, laughing while James squirmed to cover himself.

"Hey, Pete," Sirius said, taking the mirror from James's hand, "is the coast clear?"

"As a crystal. James's gonna hit you," Peter warned. Sure enough, Sirius felt a sharp pain spread through his shoulder. "Guys please don't fight. I'm freezing my you-know-what's off out here."

"We won't. Sirius deserved it, he can't hit me back," James smiled.

"I'm not sure about that. You were being a twit," Sirius argued.

"Guys," Peter implored.

"Don't worry, Pete. We'll solve this in the dorm room," Sirius said.

"But then we'll wake Lupin," James returned.

"You scared of Remus now?" Sirius laughed.

"Me? You're the one that wanted to sneak out," James answered.

"Only cause you wanted to keep this a from him," Sirius said. James scoffed but failed to find a retort.

"Fine. We'll tell him," James said, thinking he had his friend stumped.

"Good. I'm tired of lying to each other," Sirius said. James laughed.

"Pettigrew! Pettigrew, did you hear him?" James spoke into the mirror. "We're going to tell Lupin about Operation Animal Instincts." James waited but there was no answer. "Peter, you there?"

"What's happened?" Sirius asked after having heard no answer.

"Maybe the mirrors've gone faulty?" James suggested.

"Or he got caught," Sirius said the thing James had been worried about. Hearing the words spoken out loud caused him to spring into action, pulling Sirius closer to him so he could throw the cloak over the both of them. They ran out of the greenhouse together, faster and much more careless than they had before. As they came closer to the castle they saw Peter standing on the top of the stairs with Filch gripping his arm. Peter had pointed his attention in the opposite direction of the greenhouse so James was able to crumple up the cloak and shove it into Sirius's pocket.

"What if he searches us? We've got to hide these," Sirius said, pulling the leaves out and looking around for a convenient hiding place in an empty grass field. James grunted, took the leaves out of Sirius's hand, and shoved them down his pants.

"We've got to keep those in our mouths!" Sirius yelled, gaining Filch's attention. Filch yelled for them to come back to the castle.

"Let's go," James said, running again. Sirius followed closely behind him, putting the Mandrake leaves out of his mind.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have 'ere. Students out of bed, wandering the grounds, and at this hour," Filch sneered, as they climbed the last few steps, panting along the way.

"I'm sorry guys," Peter cried. "I didn't see him coming. And he heard me."

"Talking to 'imself in the bushes, so 'e says. If it's anything to do with you two, I reckon it's more," Filch said, clasping his bony hands around Sirius's and James's shoulders. "Just wait 'till your 'ead of 'ouse 'ears about this. She's just about 'ad it with you. Might even let me have a crack at ya." Peter whimpered and followed Filch as he steered James and Sirius back into the castle. Filch cackled as he listed all the medieval ways the school used to punish its students. By the time they reached McGonagall's office Peter was trembling, even James looked worried.

McGonagall pulled her door open after Filch had banged his gnarled hand against it much more than what was necessary. Her dressing gown was tied tightly around her and her hair hung loosely around her waist. The boys blushed to see her in this state.

"Mr Filch! I hope you have a good explanation for this," she said irritably, not yet seeing her students. Filch explained the situation to her, embellishing where he saw fit. By the end of his tale, McGonagall sent him away and the boys could not help but feel relief even while she looked so crossly at them. She called them into her office. They sat comfortably around her desk as she rekindled the fire having noticed their wet clothes and trembling lips.

"You three are rather bright boys, this has been proven on many occasions," she began.

"Thank you, ma'am," James said.

"Thus being so, I can only assume that you know the reason why we have the rule that we do," McGonagall continued, ignoring James.

"Yes, ma'am," Sirius answered.

"You understand that we do not allow you to venture out of the castle after dark, for your own safety?" McGonagall inquired, taking her place behind her desk. She pressed her fingertips against each other waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Professor," Peter said, quietly. James and Sirius hummed their agreement.

"Good." McGonagall nodded her head, looking thoughtfully at the three of them. "Is there a reason why you felt you needed to endanger your lives tonight?"

"For a prank," Sirius answered, quickly.

"What?" McGonagall asked, looking at Sirius. Sirius cleared his throat and sat up straighter.

"For a prank, Professor. You see, Peter has a paralysing fear of werewolves. And we heard howling last month, so we told Peter there was a werewolf in the forbidden forest, that's why it's forbidden." Sirius explained.

"So, we told him it was a full moon tonight. Then waited 'till he was asleep and carried him out there. We were so far away from him because we wanted to make it sound like there was howling coming from the forest," James added.

"He heard us and hid in the bushes. And when Pete gets scared he talks to himself. Bit mental but it keeps him calm, I guess," Sirius finished with a shrug. McGonagall looked positively irate with them but seemed to believe what they had spewed.

"Mr Pettigrew, did you ever think to look up at the sky to see if it really was a full moon?" McGonagall questioned.

"Er… n-no ma'am," Peter sputtered. McGonagall looked as if she wanted desperately to say something but thought the better of it.

"Mr Pettigrew, given the friends that you have, I would suggest to you that you be aware of your surroundings. Hogwarts is not keeping a werewolf in the forbidden forest. That would be unsafe for its students, the staff, and the werewolf himself. You have divinations this year, it might help you in that class to pay attention to the lunar cycle," McGonagall told him.

"Y-yes ma'am," Peter answered, now suppressing laughter.

"You may go to bed, Mr Pettigrew," McGonagall ordered. Peter rose and turned to leave.

"Yes, Professor. Good night," Peter answered and scurried out the door.

James and Sirius smirked at each other briefly before returning to their solemn appearances.

" _Himself_ , Professor?" Sirius questioned, arching an eyebrow. James and McGonagall looked at him confused. "You called the werewolf him."

"I'm not here to talk to you about a nonexistent werewolf, Mr Black," McGonagall said.

"But if he were really nonexistent, wouldn't you have used a less specific pronoun?" James asked, catching on to Sirius's direction. They suspected that their professor knew about their friend's condition. If she did, she might be helpful.

"Potter," McGonagall began, "this past term, yourself and Mr Black have proven to be uncontrollable."

"Not sure if that's a bad thing," Sirius muttered, almost unintelligibly.

"Quiet," she said, sternly. Sirius looked down at his lap. James looked blankly at the back wall. "You have tormented other students for the sake of your own amusement. As I said in January, I would not have believed it of you, until now." Sirius's and James's eyes jumped to her, shocked and hurt by her change of opinion. "I'm sorry to tell you this but you are in danger of expulsion."

"For what! Toads and slugs?" Sirius exploded.

"We've been caught out of bed plenty of times before now and have never been in danger of being expelled!" James added.

"Besides, we never would have let anything actually happen to Peter, or anyone else," Sirius said. McGonagall sighed, looking torn between two very difficult issues.

"It's not about today," McGonagall said, calmly. "You have targeted students, Severus Snape in particular if I'm not mistaken, for no evident reason. It's dangerous, not just for your target, but for others as well. It's our priority at Hogwarts to provide a safe learning environment for all students."

James and Sirius sat in silence, not knowing what to say, or if there was even a thing to say that would make her change her mind.

"Professor, what about the student that was attacked today, Mckinnon? That wasn't us. And she's in the hospital, we've never done that," James said respectfully, trying not to let his anger seep through his voice.

"An investigation is in progress. I assure you that when the culprit is caught, he or she will be given a fitting punishment," McGonagall said.

"But we're trying to protect students like Marlene McKinnon," Sirius argued.

"Your actions against the Slytherins have caused a rivalry between your houses, worse than it was before," she said gently, though what she didn't say was clear to them. She blamed them for what happened to Marlene.

"They're Death Eaters!" Sirius yelled, jumping to his feet.

"Mr Black, control yourself," McGonagall said, sternly. Sirius's nostrils flared as he clenched his fist but still he sat back down and attempted to control himself. "That is a tremendous accusation!"

"But it's true. We saw Malfoy and Wilkes show Rosier their marks," James told her, coming to Sirius's defence.

"You saw their marks?" McGonagall questioned, not looking as if she believed him. James thought a moment then looked guiltily at Sirius.

"Well... not exactly, but it was obvious what it was," James finally answered.

"You made an assumption without any proper evidence," McGonagall countered.

"No, we heard their conversation," Sirius said.

"And what did they say?" McGonagall asked.

"We don't remember exactly," James said, looking to Sirius. "It was a long time ago."

"Rosier definitely said something about the mark," Sirius said.

"Enough," McGonagall said and James and Sirius fell silent. "This prejudice against the Slytherin house needs to end. Sirius, I expected you to be more understanding given you family history, but I guess not. I'll be writing to your parents to schedule a meeting to discuss your behaviours. Until then, I suggest you keep your heads down and focus on your studies. No more fighting with the Slytherins, or any other student, understood?" James and Sirius nodded and muttered their affirmations.

"Professor, will you at least look into Malfoy, Wilkes, and Rosier?" Sirius pleaded.

"Good night, Mr Black and Mr Potter," McGonagall said, gesturing to the door.

"But-" Sirius started to argue but James grabbed him by the arm and pulled him from the room. They walked quickly and silently back to Gryffindor Tower.

"I can't believe she's not even going to investigate, Rosier," Sirius exclaimed, throwing himself down on the common room's couch.

"I can't believe they're blaming us for what happened to McKinnon," James added.

They stared off into the dying embers of the fire, each heavily contemplating the possibility of their expulsion.

"I think we should let more people in on it," James said suddenly. "If McKinnon had known there are Death Eaters here, she wouldn't be in the hospital, I know it. And they can't blame us if all of Gryffindor is fighting them."

"Good point, James, but how are we going to get people to believe us? We couldn't even get one let alone the whole of Gryffindor," Sirius said.

"There is one person people listen to no matter what story she puts out," James said.

"Who? Rita Skeeter?" Sirius smirked. "Clever mate, but I doubt she's gonna write about Death Eaters at Hogwarts. People are still denying they exist and she's been pretty vague about her stance on the issue."

"I'm being serious, Sirius. Bertha Jorkins, the fifth year. People will listen to her no matter how much of a nutter she is. You know she's the one that started the rumour about Snively and I secretly dating," James grimaced. "Anyway, people are so scared right now, even the rumour of Death Eaters will keep them on their toes."

"That might actually work," Sirius admitted.

"It will work. There's no way they'll expel us if everyone's on our side," James said.

"Mate, I don't know if you've noticed, but people don't really like us right now. We keep losing house points and Pevensie said that some of the team blames you for them losing to Hufflepuff last match," Sirius told him.

"I'm not even on the team anymore! They've had plenty of time to find a replacement. Blame me for the match against the Slytherins, fine, but Hufflepuff's on you…. Sirius, you should join the team. You'd make a better chaser than Montgomery," James said, cringing at Montgomery's name. Sirius shook his head laughing about how easily distracted his friend was. "He's the worst player I've ever seen!"

"How would that help our problem? I'm rubbish as a chaser," Sirius asked, bringing James's attention back on more important issues.

"Well like Maggie said; we'll keep our heads down, focus on our studies, answer questions in class, help a few first years, you join the Quidditch team, help 'em win the next match. Even if you are rubbish as a chaser you can't be worse than Montgomery. We might actually earn enough points to win the house cup," James smirked.

"You want me to keep my head down and join the Quidditch team? Do I look like Longbottom to you? Next, you'll ask me to try for prefect," Sirius scoffed.

"You like Quidditch. And Longbottom's not so bad. He stands up for the muggle borns and he makes a pretty good prefect," James shrugged.

"Longbottom's a geek. That's why he makes a good prefect," Sirius returned.

"It's just 'till we're in the clear. We'll both be Longbottoms," James smiled.

"Just wait 'till Remus hears we're gonna be expelled. Maggie's gonna get an earful from him," Sirius grinned.

James and Sirius spent the rest of the night in the common room joking with each other about various things. They were too upset to sleep. In the morning they broke the news to Remus and Peter. Remus did write five pages on why his friends should not be expelled but sent it to Dumbledore instead. They told Bertha Jorkins about Death Eaters being at Hogwarts at breakfast and by mid day not a student in school wasn't talking about it. The four of them were happy to see Malfoy squirming nervously in his seat in the Great Hall at lunch. They even passed by to give him a scare.

They did as they were told and kept their heads down. They put Operation Animal Instincts on hold. (Given the fact that they had to hold the Mandrake leaves in their mouths for an entire month, it was for the best.) Sirius even talked to Cresswell, the Gryffindor's quidditch team's captain, about trying out but was told it was too late in the year. They did continue to use harmless pranks against the known Death Eaters, which was merely a nuisance to them than anything else. Snape they left alone completely having been pointed out directly by McGonagall. He was starting to get comfortable, he even sat with Evans at the Gryffindor table on occasions. Evans was back to being courteous with James again, which brightened his spirits. That was until they saw Snape at dinner one night surrounded by people on their known Death Eater list, gesturing to his left arm. His name was added to their list immediately after that.

Their parents were contacted as promised. James received a stern letter from his parents and Sirius got a howler. He just barely made it out of the Great Hall before it exploded. The howler had been about the shame of attacking the family. Despite his friends' reassurances that nobody heard a word of what it said, he knew it wasn't true by the look of Narcissa's smug face whenever she saw him. And James had stopped pranking the Malfoys altogether.

The meeting with their parents was scheduled for a week from then. Even James seemed a bit nervous about it. They were taken out of class by Malfoy, who was the head boy; and lead to the entrance of Dumbledore's office. They sat outside of the gargoyle shaped door, palms sweating and knees shaking, waiting for their parents to show.


	14. Purveyor of Aid to Magical Mischief Make

***** A/N: I used text from the queen (JKR) herself so all rights reserved and whatnot. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **Happy reading. XO*****

* * *

Chapter 14 Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers

"I guess the Potter's and the Black's will finally meet," Sirius joked wryly. James chuckled but said nothing. James needed the silence to think his way out of the situation. For Sirius, the silence didn't aid him at all. He kept thinking about what his mother would say the minute she saw him, and in front of James too. He hoped, against his better instinct, that she didn't bring his father with her. The wooden seats lined against the wall outside of the Headmaster's office seemed to have more of an effect on the guilty subconscious than McGonagall's comfortable office chairs. He suddenly regretted everything -well almost everything- that they had done that year.

Sirius jumped to his feet having spotted a tall, thin man striding down the hall towards them. His hair, cropped short and shaved on the sides, had only flecks of black at the top. His sunken eyes seemed to have no colour, and there was an odd smell that seemed to fill the corridor. He had one of his hands deep in the pocket of his robes, the other swung a black cane that sparkled green whenever the light hit it. His bushy, grey eyebrows were permanently stuck in a frown over his eyes and his lips pursed as he looked down his hooked nose at the world. Every time the cane hit the floor Sirius's heart jumped, his mouth had gone dry, and his throat constricted but still he stood. James thought he looked as old as Dumbledore but said nothing.

"Hey, Dad," Sirius smiled, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Mr Black," James said, rising to his feet to shake the man's hand. "It's good to meet you."

Mr Black starred James down, eyeing him from head to toe.

"I take it you're the Potter boy?" Mr Black answered in a dead voice.

"Dad, this is James Potter," Sirius said. Mr Black gave one last look at James before turning abruptly back to his son. James' hand dropped. He sucked in a deep breath making himself seem taller and tried, for his friend's sake, to keep his expression neutral.

"Dad, if I could just explain," Sirius began.

"Yes, boy, I think you should. And it better be a fine explanation. No Black has ever been expelled from Hogwarts and we're not going to start with you," Mr Black answered in a harsh whisper. Sirius gulped, staring wide-eyed at his father.

"M-maybe we should wait for Mum?" Sirius suggested, meekly. James stared at his friend in disbelief, it was a though he had never been in trouble before.

"Your mother's not coming. She had something scheduled with the Black Hat Society a month ago. I don't think it'd be fair for her to miss out on the fun because you can't behave," Mr Black answered finally taking a seat in one of the wooden chairs. "Start from the beginning, and be sure to explain to me who this Snape character is."

"Well, it started in first year - technically on the train to first year," Sirius started.

"Sirius," Mr Black barked, " I don't want one of your absurd stories. Just the facts."

"Yes sir, but if you want to know who Snape is, we've got to start with first year- on the train," Sirius told him. His father took a deep breath, nodded, and muttered, "make it quick," allowing Sirius to continue.

He started with the platform. They had left his brother at home so he stood alone with his parents for the first time since Regulus was born. He was actually excited about spending the entire day with just his parents. His father told him about secrets of the Slytherin common room when his mother wasn't looking. His mother reminded him three times to eat something off the trolley, "Dumbledore tends to make long speeches," before she hugged him goodbye. His father rested a heavy hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye and said, "I know you'll do great," before sending him off. When finally they let him go, the platform had only one other child on it, and that was James Potter. They had literally ran into each other trying to get on the train before it left them behind. They thought nothing of it, barely apologise to each other before going their separate ways. But Sirius couldn't find an available seat until he saw James again. He had looked different then. His hair was styled with too much hair product, his shoelaces were tied tightly, his glasses were so clean you could see your own reflection in them, and there was not a speck of dirt or jam, on his clothes.

"Anyone sitting there?" Sirius asked James, pointing to the empty seat beside him. "Everywhere else is full."

James shook his head and moved his feet to the floor so Sirius could sit. James didn't seem to be able to contain his excitement and immediately whipped out a handful of dung bombs from his coat pocket.

"I'm going to set them off right before we leave," he explained with a smirk. Sirius was about to suggest they do it closer to the conductor but a sniffle attracted both of their attention. It came from a small, red hair girl, about their age, they later found out to be Lily Evans. She was resting her head against the window, so it was hard to see her face, but they could tell from her red nose and quivering lip that she was crying.

"What's the matter?" James asked. Evans looked up at them, startled, and quickly wiped her face.

"Nothing," she sniffled. "You should set those off closer to the cab. It'll be more effective that way." Sirius was surprised, that was exactly what he was about to suggest.

"What?" James asked, sounding confused.

"Those are stink bombs, aren't they?" she asked, gently.

"No, they're dung bombs," James corrected now understanding where she was trying to direct her attention.

"You a muggle born?" Sirius asked. Evans nodded. James let out a long "ohhh."

"So is that what it is? You don't wanna be a witch?" James asked.

"No!" She said, looking angry.

"Well, then what?" James asked, ignoring her anger.

"I just… oh, nevermind. I'm fine, just want to be left alone," she said, turning back to the window.

"Alright then," James shrugged and turned back to Sirius. They were so engaged in their own conversation that they hadn't noticed the time passing. James seemed to know just as much, if not more, about quidditch as Sirius, which was a nice surprise. No one in his family like quidditch as much as he, except Regulus but he was too young to really talk about it. Even better was that James supported his rival team, but instead of taking offence, he discussed it civilly with him. They had noticed when another person, Snape, entered their compartment but gave no acknowledgement. He seemed to only care for the girl, anyway. James, however, slowed their conversation so he could listen. The girl seemed much more talkative with Snape.

"I don't want to talk to you," Evans said in a constricted voice.

"Why not?" Snape asked.

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

She threw a shrewd look at him.

"So, she's my sister!"

"She's only a-" He caught himself quickly; Evans, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.

James had jumped to the edge of his seat and seemed keen on beating Snape for his almost insult. It was evident to him that the girl had cared for this 'Tuney.'

"But we're going!" he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

Sirius stopped where he was, knowing what was coming next. Snape had made a remark about the greatness of the Slytherin house, and James had taken this as his opportunity to say something against Snape. Sirius decided, at that moment, that he would least like to be in Slytherin, and had said as much. That was something he _could not_ tell his father. The only thing that kept him from being a complete disappointment to his family was the belief that he had no control over the Sorting Hat's decision. So instead he told him something his father would be expecting.

"Then James said something about muggle-borns being all over Hogwarts, and that Snape should stop his muggle hating if he expected to survive the next seven years. Then Snape said something back, something about us being idiots. Then we said something, and so on until the girl took her friend and left, to avoid a fight I guess," Sirius shrugged ending his tale. His father glanced at James and Sirius, seeming to be in deep thought.

"You pick on this boy, only because he doesn't like muggles?" Mr Black said finally, the accusation was clear to his son though James didn't quite catch on. James made a move to say something but Sirius cut him off quickly.

"No! He's been an idiot ever since. Can't even ride a broom. And he attacked one of my friends in first year. Most of it's because of house rivalry. You know how it is between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. Just good fun, that's all," Sirius told him. His panic had widened his eyes and cracked his voice, but his father didn't seem to notice. Mr Black sat back in his chair, looking thoughtfully out the window in front of them. Sirius bit his lip, his fingers writhing in his lap as he waited for his father to respond. It didn't help that he could feel James growing angrier by the second.

"And what about your cousins? Why attack them?" Mr Black asked, his voice -though was still angry- seemed gentler than before.

"They're always mean to me because I'm in Gryffindor," Sirius shrugged. "And it's not one sided, they do it too. James and I have been hit by some pretty nasty spells."

James started to say something but was distracted but the appearance of two people; one witch and one wizard, walking towards them. The Potter's were vastly different in appearance. Mr Potter was very tall and slender. He had a thick head of white hair that he kept slicked back with his own Sleek Easy Potion. He looked like James in feature, but he had blue eyes and if he was not conscious of his facial expression, his mouth would turn down into the deepest frown giving him the appearance of a sad turtle, but the moment he grinned his whole face would light up like a Christmas tree. James got his constant smirking lips and hazel eyes from his mother. Mrs Potter was a very short and stout woman who seemed to skip as she walked. She had red thinning hair that she kept wrapped in a bun.

"Alright, Mum? Dad?" James said, rising to his feet and walking to meet his parents in the middle of the corridor.

"We are very disappointed in you," Mr Potter started.

"Oh, Fleamont give the boy a break. We just got here," Mrs Potter interrupted. "Look at him. He's clearly upset." Mrs Potter patted her son's cheek and took him by the hand, back to the wooden chairs.

"Dad, this is Fleamont and Euphemia Potter," Sirius introduced as they approached. Mr Black nodded curtly in their direction then returned his attention to the window.

"Sirius," Mr Potter grinned, "good to see you. We were hoping to see you on the platform,Mr. Black "

Mr Black gave a disdained look to Mr Potter and seemed to be disgusted by being addressed by him. If Mr Potter had been bothered by this he didn't show it. James, however, let out a deep sigh, that was almost a growl, and straighten his stance, making himself look taller.

"We must have just missed each other," Sirius laughed awkwardly as if the Mr Black he had been referring to was himself.

"Too bad, too bad," Mr Potter smiled, kindly at him. "Have you broken in your chess set yet?"

"Oh, yeah! Nearly beat Remus with it the other day," Sirius said, his nerves calming slightly. "Thanks again."

"Don't mention it. It was our pleasure," Mr Potter winked. With that the group fell silent, waiting for the headmaster to call them in. Their wait wasn't much longer, however. Professor McGonagall was walking briskly towards them, her emerald green robes billowed behind her. James and Sirius jumped to their feet and stood in front of their parents so they would be the first to greet their professor. They exchanged a nervous look at the last moment and Sirius calmed completely taking this as a sign that James was only angry at his father for his rudeness.

"Morning, Professor," James and Sirius said together, with identical grins on their faces. McGonagall shot them a look that told them this was not a time to be smiling.

"It's about time!" Mr Black started to complain.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Another student was in need of my attention," McGonagall explained, apologetically.

"That's not an excuse! I've been waiting here for thirty minutes. If I had known the incompit-" Mr Black had stopped quickly at the look on McGonagall's face. Sirius stared in awe at his professor and James stifled a laugh.

"Mr Black, I assure you, if you hadn't have come so early, you wouldn't have had to wait so long," McGonagall answered. "Shall we go? The headmaster's expecting us. Sirius - James, wait out here until we're ready for you." With that she muttered a nonsensical password that caused the giant gargoyle to spin upward, revealing a staircase. She and their parents disappeared behind the first spiral and James turned to Sirius.

"What was that about?" James shot.

"Sorry 'bout that mate. That's how they always are. They think they're better than everyone else just 'cause they're Blacks," Sirius said, he rolled his eyes and sat back down. James, however, stayed standing.

"Not that! I was expecting that - sort of. But I meant you!" James yelled, his voice echoing down the corridor, startling a wandering first year.

"What did I do? I couldn't tell him what we said about Slytherin! He'd have taken it personally," Sirius defended.

"Not that either. You acted like - like." James failed to get the words. He groaned in frustration and started to pace.

"Like what, James?" Sirius asked, trying to remember if he had said or done anything that would cause an offence.

"Like you agreed with Snape! You made it sound like you didn't care how he felt about muggles, only that he attacked Peter and couldn't ride a broom properly," James finished, raking a hand through his hair and massaging his neck. "I mean, do you? Given your father, it's not like it would be unexpected."

It was Sirius's turn to be angry now. The look that crossed Sirius's face caused guilt to stir in the pit of James's stomach. Of course, Sirius wasn't like that, it was obvious now. But it was too late the words were already out and Sirius was fuming.

"I didn't mean-" James began, trying to apologise.

"Yes, you did. Everyone expects it of me, why shouldn't you. That's probably why we're getting expelled, they think we're doing it because he's half-blood." Sirius said. The truth of his words bringing tears to his eyes. He shot to his feet, trying to hide the fact that he was crying from James. His mind had gone blank, he barely saw the window in front of him. "I'm quite sure that they would kill me if they found out I'm a blood traitor, that's why I didn't tell him. Bit of a coward but," Sirius sighed and gave a weak shrug, "there's no excuse for it."

"Literally kill you?" James asked after he took a moment to process what he said. He walked over and leant against the window sill next to his friend.

"No, probably not," Sirius laughed. "They would lock me in the basement. That's what happened to Andy when they found out. Tonks, her husband, had to go and rescue her."

"Well, if you ever decide to tell them, let me know so I can rescue you from their basement." James smiled. "You can stay at my place. Mum adores you. Just ask Lupin, she wouldn't shut up about you after you left," Sirius grinned back at him, touched at his friends offer.

"Think I'll wait 'till I'm 17 then just disappear. Move to South America or something, that'll really irk 'em."

"And marry a muggle latina!" James laughed. They talked of the many adventures they could have in South America after they graduated - or if they got expelled. It had started to rain, water splattering the windows, coming down in bigger droplets by the minute. The longer they waited the worse the storm got. By the time McGonagall came for them thunder had sounded in the distant mountains. They climbed the stone step up to Dumbledore's office their worries returning to them.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, with his blue pointed hat atop his head, his half-moon spectacles sat on his crooked nose, his white beard covering his belly, his thin fingers pressed together under his chin as he looked thoughtfully at the boys who had entered the room. James and Sirius took a seat in the two chairs that separated the Potters from the Blacks. McGonagall stood behind Dumbledore with her hands clasped together resting at her waist. James and Sirius had never seen Professor Dumbledore outside of the Great Hall. It was odd, almost as odd as when they ran into Professor Flitwick in Diagon Alley last year.

"H-have you come to a decision yet?" James asked, being the first to break the silence.

"Not quite, we'd like to hear from you two first, if you don't mind," Dumbledore said, a slight smile playing on his thin lips.

"Yes, Professor. What exactly would you like to hear?" Sirius asked.

"You're explanation of course," Dumbledore said. "Many of your teachers have reported that you are uncontrollable in class. And then, of course, there's the matter of Severus Snape."

"Yes, sir," James said. "See Snape has made a few comments about muggles and muggle borns that were-"

"-less than friendly," Sirius finished.

"So, I took it upon myself to -"

"-correct him."

"It was only a few verbal arguments at first, then he used magic against one of our friends and, well it may have gotten out of hand I suppose," James admitted.

"And we don't mean anything against our teachers," Sirius said.

"Not at all," James agreed. "If we had known we were causing so much trouble in class, we would have tried to solve the issue."

"Minerva," Dumbledore said, turning to face McGonagall, "how are they in your class?"

"They're manageable. They get a little off topic every so often, but that's usually when they finish early," McGonagall told him.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said, turning back to the boys. "Back to the topic of young Severus."

"I know what you're going to say, Professor," James started. "And believe me I totally agree with you. We were idiotic, immature, completely reckless, and we're really sorry. I'm just hoping against hope that you'll give us another chance, which I admit we may not deserve but if you find it in your heart to forgive us, I know we can earn your trust back."

Sirius looked shocked by James's speech but nodded in agreement nonetheless. Dumbledore seemed to mull over James's words. Their parents sat on the edge of their seats waiting for his verdict.

"Minerva, what are their best classes?" Dumbledore asked, breaking the heavy silence.

"Sirius is best at charms and James, transfigurations," McGonagall said. James grinned proudly at his professor who shot him a look of warning. They weren't in the clear yet.

"And Mr Snape's, do you know his?" Dumbledore asked.

"I can't be certain, but I believe it's potions," McGonagall admitted. James and Sirius stared confused at their Headmaster, who gave them a short smile before continuing.

"And in other subjects, are they doing well?"

"Yes, of course. They're excellent students in that area," McGonagall answered.

"Professor McGonagall and I have been discussing adding an extra period for study, particularly for the first years, but really for anyone who was in need of some extra help," Dumbledore began. "The only problem was finding time in our teacher's already busy schedules for this period, but now I think we've found a solution. Mr Potter and Mr Black I will not be expelling you."

The Potters erupted in relief and Sirius grinned. Mr Black continued to stare, blank-faced, at the Headmaster.

"Instead you will, until further notice, spend an hour after classes tutoring those in need with Severus Snape. Hopefully, this will gain you a new friend and a better appreciation for your professors." Dumbledore finished, he looked bemused by the boys slacked mouths and astonished expressions. "Does this seem fair?" he asked, turning to the parents.

"More than fair. Good day, Albus," Mr Black said, rising to his feet. He shook the headmaster's hand, gave a warning to his son, then turned to leave all before Dumbledore could give his answer.

"Mr and Mrs Potter, do you have any objections?" Dumbledore asked them, kindly.

"Couldn't think of anything more fitting, Professor," Mr Potter complimented, Mrs Potter gave her agreement.

"I'm glad," Dumbledore smiled. "James, would you walk your parents out? Professor McGonagall and I would like a moment alone with Sirius."

"Yes sir," James said, quietly. The Potter's disappeared behind the tall, oak door that separated the office from the giant gargoyle in the hall. Dumbledore held up a hand stopping the questions Sirius was about to ask, waiting for their footsteps to fade into silence. McGonagall took the seat Mrs Potter was using and summoned three cups of tea with a wave of her wand.

"You already knew you weren't going to expel us, didn't you?" Sirius asked. Dumbledore gave a half smile over his tea cup.

"We had to give the impression that it might have happened. A certain teacher believes you to be insubordinate," Dumbledore explained, looking apologetic. "I rather like having you at this school. You add humour in these dark times."

"If it weren't for Severus," McGonagall said, seeming to be reminding Dumbledore of something.

"Yes, that as your friend said, seems to have gotten out of hand. I'm sure you'll try your best to fix that," Dumbledore said. Sirius nodded in response, taking a sip of his tea. "Sirius, I have to ask you something that I need you to respond with the utmost honesty. Can you do that?"

"Yes sir," Sirius said, setting his tea cup down on the desk so Dumbledore could have his full attention.

"Your father, when he explained what he believed to have happened, made it seemed that you were targeting Severus because of his blood status," Dumbledore said. Sirius had already been rubbed raw by this issue, a million times before now. The question had been posed against him since first year, despite most of his targets being pure blooded. He sat up straighter, swallowed, and waited to his headmaster to continue. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but given your chosen friends, your obvious disregard for most of your family, your protective behaviour towards muggle borns and other such people, I do not believe this to be true."

"You're not wrong," Sirius answered, relief filling his body for the first time in a week. Dumbledore gave him a proud sort of smile that set a twinkle in his eye.

"I am very glad to hear it."

"Professor, I am glad you believed it of me," Sirius admitted, sheepishly, but found he couldn't contain himself.

Dumbledore gave Sirius a moment to collect himself.

"This leads me to the point of our conversation. This is where I need you to be honest with me, no matter how hard it may be." Sirius nodded indicating that he was ready for his question. "Should I have any reason to believe that you are in danger at home?"

Sirius's throat thickened. There was no way he could have heard what he had told James, but Dumbledore seemed to have already known the answer. He was conflicted. His need to lie about his fears, his ancient need to protect his family, but he had made a promise. That was something Sirius could never go back on.

"They don't know," Sirius answered, hoping that would be enough.

"Do they suspect?" McGonagall asked.

"They think it might happen, 'cause I'm in Gryffindor. But with James, I think it's a little better. He's not in the sacred 28, but he's still pure," Sirius explained. Sirius found that he couldn't look either of them in the eye. He had not exactly lied, but he still felt guilty, he had promised the absolute truth and he failed to give it.

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it, Sirius," Dumbledore said, simply.

"Yes, sir," Sirius said. Dumbledore waited for a moment to give Sirius another opportunity to say something but Sirius's courage failed him.

"That is all then," Dumbledore said. "You may go and enjoy the rest of your day."

"I do expect to see you in my class, Mr Black," McGonagall added before Sirius disappeared behind the door.

Sirius ran down the empty corridors until his lungs burned to be filled with air and his legs threatened to give out underneath him. He sank against the wall to catch his breath. He was in an unfamiliar part of the castle, but it didn't matter where he was, he just needed to be alone so he could go over the things that just happened in the last hour and a half. It wasn't until the bell rang, signalling the end of the period, did Sirius begin to worry that he really didn't know where he was. He had been in such a distressed state that he hadn't taken note which way he had turned, or if he had gone up or down the stairs. He found a statue of a witch with one eye that he thought looked familiar but it only led him to a dark, musty corridor that looked as if it hadn't been used since his grandfather attended the school.

"Sirius," a voice whispered, echoing down the hall sending a chill through his bones. "Sirius!" it said again.

"Who's there?" Sirius yelled back, harshly.

"'Sme, Peter," Peter whispered. Sirius lurched toward the sound of his voice, glad to be found. "What are you doing here? This part of the castle is off limits."

Just as he said this, Sirius tripped over a heavy, wooden object, causing a cascade of metal things to fall to the ground. Loud clangs and bangs danced down the hall, ringing in their ears giving both Sirius and Peter a small headache. They heard Filch cursing Peeves the poltergeist, his voice growing nearer. Sirius grabbed Peter's clammy hand and ran down the hall and into the nearest unlocked room. They listened, pressing their ears to the door until Filch's crude insults faded into silence.

"I take it you didn't get expelled?" Peter asked. Sirius shook his head and started to look around. He had been in plenty of empty classrooms, but never in this one. "What about James?"

"Him neither. Last I saw him, he was walking his parents out," Sirius said, opening the cabinets. The only things they held were cobwebs and moths. "Did you see him?"

"No," Peter answered, "but it's lunch. He's probably visiting Remus."

"Do you know where we are?" Sirius asked, deciding that the classroom had nothing worth finding, except perhaps a new breed of spider.

"Hold on," Peter said. He started emptying out his pockets, pulling out a yo-yo, crumpled up parchment, and a dozen old wrappers. When his pockets seemed to be empty he started on his bag, pulling out books, ink-stained parchment with illegible writing, two sandwiches, an apple, then finally a neatly folded square parchment. "I've been mapping out our classes since first year. Kept getting lost 'cause the moving staircase and what not."

"You mapped out the entire castle?" Sirius said, his disbelief clearly in his voice. Peter's cheeks flushed.

"Well no, just our classes," Peter said, sounding embarrassed. He had mistaken Sirius's tone for criticism but Sirius was truly impressed. Sirius took the parchment from Peter's hand and opened it completely. Peter had clearly put some thought into the map. The classrooms and staircases were clearly marked. The moving staircase moved on the parchment and Sirius guessed the real one had done the same.

"There's that statue," Sirius said, pointing to the landmark.

"Right that puts us on the third floor," Peter said, looking over Sirius's shoulder. "I think we turned left so that puts us somewhere close to Charms."

"Brilliant," Sirius whispered, looking over the map once more. He watched as the staircase moved again, a window vanished from sight, and another statue next to the Great Hall moved three inches to the left. "Pete, what else can this map do?"

"Errr…. Well, if you tap the fat lady's portrait with your wand, it'll tell you the password. I'm always forgetting. I was working on putting the Hufflepuff's password, but we never go in there except that one time with Wilkes." Peter answered.

"Peter, what if the Slytherins get this!" Sirius yelled, refolding the map and putting it, protectively, into his breast pocket.

"I-I keep it safe. And nobody knows about it 'cept me… and now you," Peter stuttered.

"We'll have to put some protective charms on it. And maybe add the rest of the castle. This could be really useful, Peter. Best keep it safe." Sirius said, leading his friend out of the classroom and confidently down the hall. His mind whirled with the possibilities the map had provided.


	15. Protective Instincts

Chapter 15 Protective Instincts

Remus Lupin, once again, found himself staring up at the ceiling in the hospital wing cursing the moon and the stars and the blasted witch who conjured the damn curse, to begin with. He had pushed himself much too hard this cycle and had actually passed out from overexertion. He was tired of missing out on his life just because the full moon decided to rise. He should be out there walking the halls, waiting for Sirius and James to burst out of the Headmaster's office and announced that they weren't expelled. Or that they were, then they'd make plans to write each other. They'd come up every Hogsmeade weekend because he'd actually be able to go to every Hogsmeade weekend. Then he'd spend the summer with them. Going to the beach with James. Visiting Italy with Sirius. Okay, maybe not Sirius, but that wouldn't be because of his condition.

The point was, he shouldn't be laying there, feeling his lungs shrink as he fought for breath. He should be out there, filling his lungs with the cold spring air, pranking unsuspecting first years, bugging the hell out of Lily Evans with James, or even beating the crap out of some Slytherins. He wanted to move. He wanted to jump and run and dance and throw mud at Peter. Or give Sirius some grass stains on his new robes. Or race James on his broom.

He closed his eyes and put himself outside. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The grass was a brilliant shade of green. The flowers were starting to bloom. The birds had returned to sing their song. James was whizzing overhead goading him into a race as Sirius yelled at him pointing to his grass-stained knees and Peter was wearily eyeing his muddy hands.

Alas, he was back in reality. It was a rainy day. The rain splattered on the window giving a precise rhythm to the throbbing in his head. The overcast made the room dark and grey. The candles Madam Pomfrey had lit offered no help. The bitter aftertaste of a potion that was supposed to numb the pain sat in his mouth. He was simultaneously hungry and sickened by the mere thought of food. It must be lunch time. His friends should be visiting soon. Or would they? Would they be able to if they got expelled? There was still Peter.

Remus slowly moved into a sitting position, using the bars on the sides of his bed for assistance. He grabbed an extra pillow for back support. He pinched his cheeks and straightened his hair, trying to make it look like he wasn't sick - that there was no need for him to be in the hospital wing.

He watched the doors willing them to open. Hoping for _anyone_ \- even Snape to come in. Madam Pomfrey was an excellent nurse. She was hired specifically for him because she specialised in nursing the werewolf condition. However, she was not very talkative. She was always about business. "Drink this potion, it'll help with the pain" or "This one for your headache" and "this will help you keep your food down." She was only doing her job of course but Remus sometimes found himself hating her for it. After spending weeks with James, Sirius, and Peter, she always seemed cold and impersonal. He craved human attention and an hour at lunch could hardly satisfy him.

Finally, he saw the door slowly open. The room filled with the sound of people bustling around the outside corridor. He saw an untied shoe at the bottom of the door, brown untidy hair, a glint of glasses, and finally a friendly face.

"Is the coast clear?" James asked, smirking at Remus. Remus nodded the rest of his energy going into a smile. "Good."

James strutted into the room, throwing the door closed behind him, carrying a large paper bag Remus assumed to contain food. As James got closer he could smell the heavenly aroma of steak wafting through the room. He held back a growl as James set it down on the table attached to the foot of his bed, too far out of his reach.

"I take it you're not expelled?" Remus said, his voice weak and barely above a whisper. His eye flickered between James and that beautiful paper bag he was now digging through.

"No, not yet anyway," James answered muffled by the ruffling of paper.

"Too bad," Remus smirked, "Peter and I made a deal. He gets Sirius's desk and I get your bed."

"Sucks for Peter, I've got the best bed in the dorm," James chuckled. "Did you want the chicken parmesan or the steak and potatoes? I wasn't sure so I-"

"The steak, please," Remus said, holding out his hand.

"Did you have your potions yet?" James asked, holding the plate out of arm's reach. "Last time you skipped it you got sick, and we had to eat those disgusting crackers because you couldn't even handle the smell of real food after that."

Remus's nose crinkled, remembering the smell of the food and the taste of the crackers, and suddenly his self-control returned to him.

"Right, I should wait 'till Pomfrey gets back. She just left to get food," Remus answered. James nodded, placing the food back in the bag. He grabbed a chair from one of the neighbouring beds, threw his shoes off, and thrust his feet onto the bed next to Remus's legs.

"So, Dumbledore's making us teach helpless first years with - oh you have to guess who. You'll never get it," James started.

"Lucius Malfoy," Remus said.

"No, close. Try someone with not so _fabulous_ hair," James smirked.

"Ah, the one and only Snivellus Snape. I wonder why he would do such a thing?" Remus answered, sarcastically.

"He said we should try and make friends with him," James said, a look of disgust crossed his face. Remus chuckled. He was exhausted by their conversation but this was the most fun he's had in hours. "Remus, I've got to tell you something. I'd just like to remind you of my original promise."

"What promise?" Remus asked, his eyes starting to droop.

"Remember in the beginning of this year when I promised you that I wouldn't go near you during the full moon unless it was worth the risk," James said in a hushed tone. Remus hummed, not catching on to James's direction. "Well, I think I've found something."

"What'd you find," Remus asked, his head popping up as if he had been about to fall asleep.

"You - you were there, in Radagast's class. You called it before we ever really decided to do it," James said nervously. "You know the night that we got caught wandering around the grounds and we told you we were going to the greenhouse for supplies for a prank?" Remus nodded, eyes open wide. His mind was too foggy to see where James was going with this but his instinct told him he knew exactly what he was going to say. "Well, you see, we weren't actually getting supplies for a prank. We were getting supplies for… something else. And we lied because we thought - we knew you'd get mad and stop us."

"Just tell me, James," Remus said irritably.

"But you already know," James said. Remus closed his eyes and clenched his mouth shut, holding in the fire that threatened to escape.

"Just… tell me," Remus said, calmly, his eyes still closed. James took a deep breath before beginning again.

"We were getting mandrake leaves," James said, glancing at Remus to see if he understood. By the look of his blank expression, he assumed he didn't. "So we could become animagi."

A cold silence fell over the room. Remus had clenched his jaw again, his upper lip twitching with the effort. He hadn't closed his eyes this time and James, for the first time, could see the wolf that was hidden behind them. James wasn't frightened by this. The wolf was angry and terrifying but James saw the loneliness behind the anger and the fear in the terrifying animal. Remus while looking back at him saw this. He saw James looking him directly in the eye, while he was this angry and this close to the full moon, unafraid. He saw only determination.

"You can hex me. You can curse me. You can throw me out and say you never want to see me again, but we're doing this. Me, Peter, and Sirius are becoming animagi, and we're going out there with you every full moon after we do," James said. "We just thought you had a right to know."

"You can't make decisions without me," Remus argued, suddenly finding the strength to raise his voice above a whisper.

"But we did. I honestly wish we hadn't now. Sirius said we should tell you, but I didn't listen." James returned. "If you really need to be mad at someone, be mad at me. They were just going along with it."

"I'll be mad at who I want to be mad at, James," Remus snapped back. He cursed himself for sounding so childish. "Why are you doing this in the first place? There's no point. And it's dangerous and stupid."

"You need us to do it, Lupin. We're your pack," James smirked, returning to his normal attitude.

"The moment I get out of this bed, Potter-" Remus was almost able to yell.

"You'll hex me, or jinx me, or whatever else you can come up with. Do your worst, Lupin, it won't change anything. I already told you," James laughed.

Madam Pomfrey came in stopping Remus's retort. He glowered over her arm at James. Drank her bitter potion and cursed James instead of the moon. How could he be so stupid? Does he know nothing about werewolves? He decided to show him the ugly truth of his condition when he was well again. There were articles after articles of werewolf attacks in the library. Their defence teacher, Professor Radagast, had to have some horror stories about the topic. And the Nicnevins, their family were heavily involved with werewolves. Without a doubt, they would have something. He didn't care what he had to do, he would save James from his own foolishness.

"Dear God, Remus you look like you're about to burst," Peter said as he entered the hospital wing with Sirius in his wake. Remus looked up in surprise. His mood lightened quickly at the sight of more friends. He tried not to remind himself that they were with James, he needed to hold onto this happy mood.

"I told him," James answered, giving a look to Sirius specifically.

"About Dumbledore and his insane verdict?" Sirius answered.

"No about… operation animal instincts," James said, with a quick glance around the room even though he knew Madam Pomfrey went back to her office already.

"Maybe we should come back later then," Peter suggested, watching Remus out of the corner of his eye.

"Nevermind that. You have to see this," Sirius said excitedly, taking a seat at the foot of Remus's bed.

"Nevermind that?" Remus repeated. He looked angrily at Sirius, though not as angrily as he did at James. Sirius stared blankly back at him.

"Did you have something to say?" Sirius asked.

"Well no, except you all are a bunch of brainless gits and I forbid you to go through with it," Remus said with an air of finality.

"Alright then, take a look at this," Sirius said, reaching into his breast pocket.

"At least he's reasonable," Remus told James.

"Sirius Black reasonable?" James scoffed. "Where have you been for the last three years."

"He just agreed not to become an animagus. That's reasonable," Remus said.

"All I said was alright then," Sirius answered.

"But that means-"

"No, it doesn't! It just means that I acknowledge your disapproval and will take it under consideration," Sirius said.

"It implies that-"

"You can make your own assumptions, Remus, I just told you what I meant," Sirius told him.

"So basically you're doing it no matter what," Remus said, bitterly.

"Pretty much yeah," Sirius nodded. "Now take a look at this," he said reaching into his pocket again.

"You too, Peter?" Remus asked. Sirius groaned. Peter suddenly found himself to be in the centre of attention.

"I-I… er…. Sorry Remus," Peter said. Remus sighed, defeated once again by his united friends.

"It's for your own good," James said.

"Yes, yes. For your own good. We're all doing it. Can you at least show a little interest in what I have to show you?" Sirius reached into his pocket again, and this time, without hesitation, pulled out a large square shaped parchment. James adjusted his chair so he could see clearly, and Remus leant slightly forward. "Pete and I got lost before we came here and then he whipped out this," Sirius said, unfolding the parchment's many layers and laid it out on Remus's lap so everyone could see.

"It's a map," James said dully.

"Yeah, look at it," Sirius said.

James peered over his toes, his feet still crossed on Remus's bed, to get a better view of the map. He watched as the staircase moved from one junction to another. Remus picked up the parchment and held it closer to his face.

"This is really great magic, Sirius," Remus said.

"That was Peter. I did nothing to it yet," Sirius said, taking the parchment from his hands. "And watch this." Sirius took out his wand and pointed to the fat lady's portrait. This month's password "gilly weed" scrawled itself across the page.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other with a sudden light in their eyes. James however still seemed uninterested.

"If the Slytherin's get their hands on that we could be in serious trouble," James said, voicing his only concern.

"Yeah, we're gonna put some protection charms on it," Peter said, finally speaking up.

"Pete, why didn't you tell us about this?" Remus asked, taking the map back from Sirius.

"It was only for my classes. The moving staircase always messes me up. And I'm always forgetting the password," Peter shrugged.

"It's not even finished," James muttered.

"James, we'll finish it! Add a few charms. Who knows? When were done with it, it might even talk to us," Sirius grinned, excitedly.

"Your quills are under your bed Master Sirius," James said in a deep voice causing the rest of the group to laugh. Much to James's disappointment the conversation about the map continued. Peter was delightfully surprised that he had done something that had caused this much excitement from his friends. Usually, the most attention he would get was when he caused something to blow up accidently. They discussed the different protective charms they could put on the map. Remus decided that the moment he could leave the hospital wing they start looking for all the secret passageways they could find within the castle. They already knew about the tapestry on the first floor that if you step through it, you would find yourself on the third floor, and the door that led out to the Black Lake which was immediately added to the map by Peter. This peaked James's interest and he heartily suggested that they charm the map to insult anyone who tried to break through their protective spells.

"You'll take any chance to attack the Slytherins won't you?" Remus laughed, shaking his head.

They talked of nothing else until the bell rang, signalling the start of their next class. Remus said goodbye with a heavy heart knowing he wouldn't be able to see his friends until the weekend. Madam Pomfrey had a strict rule that prohibited the boys from seeing Remus starting on the day of the full moon until the night after. That gave him 60 hours of nothing but himself, Madam Pomfrey, and the wolf. Helplessly bored and with nothing else to do he rolled over and lulled himself to sleep.


	16. Peter's Wall

Chapter 16 Peter's Wall

James woke the next day, bright and early as he usually did. He waddled down the steps and slid across the wooden floor of the common room. He got his coffee complete with cream and sugar and returned. It was rather difficult to push his way through the portrait hole this morning. There was a large crowd in front of the bulletin board that blocked his path. He whipped out his wand and was just about to hex a first year that had accidently stepped on his foot when Lily Evans came into view.

"Stop right there!" Lily ordered, pointing her finger at James as she marched towards them. James grinned and twirled his wand between his fingers before putting it away.

"Evans, you're not even a prefect yet and you're already bossing me around," James teased, running his fingers through his hair to make sure it was just right. Lily was too busy consoling the scared first year to pay attention to his remark.

"James, I'm really glad that you've stopped bugging Severus but you've got to stop bothering the first years. They're helpless. It's really not fair," she told him.

"He stepped on my foot!" James defended.

"I'm sure it was an accident," Lily said. " Anyway, how did your meeting go yesterday? I take it you didn't get expelled?"

"Nope. Just have to tutor people with your darling Severus," James said and made a face like he swallowed vinegar.

"Well, I'm glad you're not expelled," Lily smiled.

"And I'm glad you're still gorgeous, though I don't think my heart can take it," James said dramatically. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Potter," Lily said, dryly, and turned to leave.

"May I admire you again today?" James called after her.

Lily rolled her eyes at him as she disappeared behind the portrait. James turned back to the bustling crowd. "Excuse me. Pardon me," he said as he pushed people out of his way toward the bulletin board. There were many things that could have been the centre of attention but the crowd stilled when they noticed who was now in the front and that made James queezey. He read through noticing; the new password, _bono malum superate,_ active starting tomorrow morning, the announcement for the last quidditch game of the season, the winner of the chess competition, the winner of the gobstones competition, the candidates for next year's head boy and girl, and then an announcement for a new study period lead by Sirius Black, James Potter, Severus Snape, and the prefects from all houses. Beneath it was a list of all the people who wanted to take the class and it was already filled from top to bottom, some had even squeezed their names onto the sides. James ripped it from the wall, pushed his way over to a chair, climbed on top, and called out:

"Why do so many of you need tutoring?"

The first years gulped and looked at each other apprehensively, the sixth and seventh years laughed, but it was a fifth year, Frank Longbottom, who answered.

"We all wanted to see you have to work with Snape," Frank grinned. James rolled his eyes and jumped down.

"I don't see what's so entertaining about that slimy git. And you've got to work with him too Longbottom, you're a prefect," James said.

"Not him, you. You're always coming up with brilliant stuff. Turning his rucksack into a rabbit and his desk into a pig. Can't wait to see what you come up with next." Longbottom said with a murmur of agreement from the crowd. "Well, I've got to go. Prefect duties. See ya later Potter."

James stared incredulously at the dispersing crowd. He hadn't realised he had caught so many people's attention and that so many people were on his side. Lily always made him out to be some sort of monster. Then again she never seemed to grasp that Snape was just as - if not more - guilty than he. He picked on people only because he thought he was better than them. You mess up on your potion, Snape would be there with his snide comments. Make a mistake in Defense, Snape would be there just to show off. He was incorrigible. If he wasn't there to keep Snape in line chaos would fall.

He got back to his dorm room, still clutching the list as he read it over. There was Franchesca Brown, Tom Williams, Dan Millar, and Jennifer Watts, but no Lily Evans.

"What's that you've got?" Peter asked. He was already dressed in his school robes.

"List of people who signed up for the tutoring Dumbledore's making us do," James mumbled. Peter looked over his shoulder to read the list.

"That's a lot of people," Peter remarked.

"Yeah, a lot," James said, rolling his eyes. He tossed the list onto his bed and downed his now lukewarm coffee. "Where's Sirius?"

"Shower. Imma go get some breakie. See ya later," Peter said, as he left James alone in the dorm room.

James hated being alone. It was too quiet. There was no one to talk to so he always ended up thinking out loud, making himself look insane. But he needed to show Sirius the list and tell him what Frank said, so he stayed. He could hear the alarm clock on his bedside table ticking away, the birds fluttering wings outside his window, people passing by in the hallway, Peter's cat purring in the sun patch on the floor. The small noises were itching away at his brain and he almost burst out of there when Sirius came strutting back into the dorm room. His hair had grown out and was now past his eyes so he kept shaking his head so he could see, flicking water as he did.

"Merlin's pants! Sirius, you have to take shorter showers! The earth is dying you know," James said as he dodged a few stray water droplets.

"If it's under an hour does it really count as a shower?" Sirius responded, taking his wand from his drawer so he could finish drying himself off. James ignored this and lurched into his story. Sirius stared at the list, mouth agape.

"How're we supposed to teach all these people? This is all of Gryffindor!" Sirius said.

"All except Evans," James muttered. He still hadn't quite figured her out. One minute she was fine with him the next she was shooting daggers at him.

"Who?" Sirius asked, only half listening. He was still eyeing the list, his eyes trailing over each of the names.

"'The ginger,'" James groaned.

"Oh, right," Sirius said, still not paying attention. James sighed, his eyebrows narrowing. He was hoping Sirius would give him advice about Lily. Sirius saw the look on James's face and rolled his eyes. "Think of it this way. It's less time she'll spend with Snivellus," Sirius told him, handing back the list.

"Yeah," James sighed, his disappointment lightening.

"Listen I think we should start with the Mandrake's tonight. We have to hold it in our mouths from full moon to full moon. So we have to come up with some excuse for not being able to talk for an entire month." Sirius said.

"Why don't we just do it? Who cares what they think?" James questioned, leading Sirius out the door.

"It's gonna look suspicious. And what we're doing is, technically, illegal," Sirius muttered.

"Black, relax. No one's gonna guess what we're doing," James shrugged.

"Maggie would. Especially if she finds out about the mandrakes. Dumbledore too," Sirius answered. James pinned the list of students back up on the board thinking about this.

"We have until dinner to think of something," James said as they left the common room and headed to breakfast.

It was odd being at Hogwarts now. The war was something that usually only affected their home life. Hogwarts was a safe haven from the chaos that was outside, which normally only the students who regularly read the prophet knew about. Ever since news of the attack on Marlene Mckinnon spread throughout the school Hogwarts changed. The students were scared. Everyone kept to their own house tables. When Bertha Jorkins let out the news that there were Death Eaters at school things really began to change. The staff didn't seem to take it seriously, but the students certainly did. People walked the halls in groups of no less than three. The Slytherins were thoroughly avoided. So, that is why the Gryffindor students spent most of their day in their tower

It was Saturday. A day with no classes, no assignments, a day of absolutely nothing but freedom. Which was the basic gist of Sirius's speech when he started ranting about his boredom.

"I should not be bored on a Saturday!" he concluded.

James was glaring out of the window with his chin resting in his hand having been unsuccessful at shutting Sirius up. Peter had fallen back to sleep in his four-poster with his cat curled around his head.

"So Sirius are you having a good day?" James asked with mocking interest.

"Bored! Bored! Bored! Bored! Bored!" Sirius yelled, stomping off to his bed. He climbed back in and tossed himself onto his side so his back was to James.

James sighed heavily and looked back to the window. The rain was pouring so hard he couldn't even see the quidditch field and could only hear the trees violently shaking in the wind. Saturday was a day to play quidditch since he couldn't play on the actual team. Feeling his disappointment starting to weigh in on him James moved away from the window.

Their dorm room was an absolute mess. The chessboard and pieces were littered across the floor, having been thrown when Sirius was accused of cheating. Then chaos had erupted. James had come to Peter's defence earning himself a sharp blow to his stomach. There were hexes and jinxes flying all over the place. The only thing that remained untouched in their room was Remus's bed.

James's eyes lingered on his bed. Remus would know what to do. He could pull Sirius out of his moods with a simple "let's go prank the Slytherins." When James had tired that all he got was a grumpy "How are we going to do that? Break into their impenetrable dormitory?"

The full moon was tonight and there was no way Madam Pomfrey would allow them to visit.

"Sirius?" James said, an idea suddenly popping into his head.

"What?" Sirius answered, sulkily.

"I need you to hex me," James said. Sirius sat up and looked at his friend as if he had lobsters crawling out of his ears.

"What?" Sirius repeated.

"Hex me."

"Why?" Sirius asked, suspiciously.

"Because… I think your hair's stupid," James said, crossing his arms. Sirius looked offended for a split second.

"That's your prerogative," he said, turning away from him.

"And that… you're worse at magic than Peter," James said. Sirius snorted. James groaned, marched over to Sirius, then pushed him out of bed. Sirius shot up, anger flashing in his stony eyes.

"What the hell did you do that for!" he yelled.

"Cause you're a git!" James said, preparing himself for the blow. Sirius grabbed his wand that had fallen out of his pocket and thrust it into James's face. James's face was already contorted in pain even though he hadn't done anything and that is what stopped him. Instead, he pushed him away from his bed and got back into it. "Merlin Sirius, can't you just be a man and hex me?"

"That's sexist. I'm gonna tell Evans you said that " Sirius threatened.

"Oh yeah, well I'm gonna… tell Snape that you have a crush on him," James said, expecting to get a rise out of his friend. Sirius remained silent. "Then I'll…. I'll tie Regulus to one of the Quidditch poles. Maybe he'll get struck by lightning, that would be awesome to see!"

"You wouldn't. You promised me that Regulus was off limits," Sirius said, the boredom still heavy in his voice.

"I'll still tell Snape," James threatened.

"Do it, I dare you," Sirius said, knowing James would never back down from a dare. "And you have to make him believe it, or else it doesn't count."

"You're daring me to ruin your reputation?" James asked.

"I'm daring you to do the impossible," Sirius clarified.

James and Sirius were staring each other down, the challenge lighting both their eyes.

"Peter, get up, we're going to find Snivellus!" James yelled, running to get properly dressed. Peter sucked in a deep breath but considered it not worth the loss of sleep. "Peter! Now!"

"Peter Reginald Octavius Rudolph Potter Lupin Black Pettigrew get out of bed this instant!" Sirius ordered.

"How many names do you think I have?" Peter yawned.

"I don't actually know, I just decided to improvise," Sirius told him, waiting impatiently by the door.

"Well I don't have a middle name and I have only one surname," Peter said, getting dressed.

James crossed the room carrying in his hands a large stack of paper. Sirius eyed them suspiciously.

"You have four last names. We've all adopted each other," James said.

"Everyone needs a middle name. From now on you shall be Peter Cadwallader Pettigrew," Sirius declared.

"Cadwallader?" James repeated. "That's worse than my middle name."

"One could argue that it's better," Sirius replied.

"How?" Peter asked.

"...it's…cooler," Sirius said.

Peter scoffed. James was now rummaging through the papers in his hand.

"What's that you've got there, James?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Nothing," James said quickly, clutching the papers to his chest. Sirius's interest peaked. He lunged at James and both of them dropped to the floor rolling around as Sirius tried to pry open James's fingers.

"What! The! Hell!" Sirius yelled, having successfully pulled the papers free. The papers were not actually papers at all but pictures. Pictures of Sirius sleeping in a compromising position in second year; pictures of Sirius covered in what he knew to be pickle juice in first year; pictures of Sirius with red lipstick and heavy blue eyeshadow he dressed in for a dare at the beginning of this year.

"Language for the love of Merlin!" James groaned trying to push Sirius off of his stomach. Sirius paid no attention of this, he was too busy flipping through the series of embarrassing pictures with a mortified expression on his face. Peter had crept up behind Sirius curious to see what his usual confident friend was so embarrassed about. Once Sirius got to the picture of him in his underpants he jumped to his feet and pulled out his wand prepared to burn the small stack.

"No, no, no! Don't destroy them! Think of the memories!" James yelled, scurrying to his feet and placing a hand on top of the photos under Sirius's wand.

"Memories!" Sirius said, ripping the pile away from James. James made to grab the pictures back but Sirius danced away from him. "You were going to share these with Snivellus weren't you? You don't think I have embarrassing pictures of you?" Sirius yelled as James chased him around the room.  
"You said I had to be convincing!" James yelled. Peter was starting to get dizzy from watching them run around in circles.

"Guys, come on! Don't fight!" Peter demanded as James whipped out his wand and shot the jelly-leg jinx at Sirius who skillfully dodged it.

"Missed, Potter!" Sirius said, then ducked behind the bed again as James shot another jinx at him. Peter crossed the room and ran over to his trunk, rummaging through it frantically.

"Don't be such a sissy, Black, come out from under the bed!" James teased. Sirius was under the bed but only so he could fetch his shoes to throw at James. He was determined not to use magic against him since that is what he wanted in the first place.

"Guys, LOOK!" Peter yelled, as loud as he could holding his arms above his head. In his hands, were yet more pictures. Sirius stopped mid throw and stared at Peter, dangerously, not even blinking. James, with his wand still, pointed at Sirius, froze and glared at Peter.

"I've got pictures too," Peter said, taking his arms down to flip through his pile. "This one's of Sirius in first year when the ginger scrubbed frosting in his hair." Peter threw the picture to the floor and picked out another one. "This one's of James, right before Christmas holiday second year, started crying when Filch was yelling at him."

"I was sleep deprived!" James defended, running over to pick up the picture of himself Peter had tossed to the floor.

"And this one's of Remus when he fell asleep in the common room and we piled all that stuff on him last month," Peter said, placing the picture in James's outstretched hand. "I even have one of me. Look, I charmed the camera to take the picture by itself. I was trying to prank you guys but ended up pranking myself." Peter held out the picture for them to see. It started as just a picture of their dormitory door, then Peter walked in and the room exploded with coloured dust. As the dust cleared they could clearly see Peter frozen in the doorway, his scrunched up face covered in sparkling rainbow dust. "Couldn't wash that stuff off for weeks," Peter chuckled, relieved to see his friends' smiling faces.

"I remember that," Sirius laughed.

"See. Memories," James grinned, clasping a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"But you were going to show our ' _memories_ ' to our arch nemesis!" Sirius accused the tension building again.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic!" James complained.

"Guys! Who cares who sees it? Most of this stuff the whole school's seen anyways! And anyone who hasn't will just see a couple of idiots having fun with their best mates," Peter said. He took the picture of himself out of James's hands and pinned it to the blank wall, usually reserved for assignment reminders. "I don't care who sees." Peter turned back to his friends.

James and Sirius were shocked by his confidence. Both were a little embarrassed by the contents of the pictures but wanted to support their friend. So, with a quick exchange, they pinned their pictures up right next to Peter's for all who entered to see. When they were done they stood back to look proudly at what they had done.

"Lupin is going to _love_ this!" James grinned, as he eyed a particular picture of Remus snoring with his mouth wide open and his face covered in what was probably chocolate frosting from his 12th birthday last year. A knock at their door caused all of them to jump in surprise.

James and Sirius exchanged nervous glances as Peter went to open the door. The pictures would be the first thing anyone would see when they entered the dorm room.

"Oh, hey Frank," Peter said brightly and opened the door wider to let Frank in.

"Wotcher, Pete. I just came to check on you guys. It sounded like you were killing each other in here just a few seconds ago, then it got eerily quiet," Frank said. It didn't seem like he had noticed the pictures, much to James's and Sirius's relief.

"Aw, Longbottom, I always knew you liked us," James clutching his chest and batting his eyes. Frank laughed shaking his head.

"Well, I am a prefect, it's sorta my job to care," Frank told him. "What're you guys doing anyway?"

"We were so incredibly bored, and I mean bored, that we decided to play a game of cat and mouse," Sirius answered.

"In which case, Sirius was the mouse," James added.

"I- that doesn't - shut up Potter," Sirius answered.

"Okay… You know instead of destroying school property and forcing your beloved prefect to take points away from his own house, you could join us in a game of Truth or Dare," Frank offered.

"Truth or Dare?"

"You sure you want to do that, Longbottom?"

James, Peter, and Sirius grinned mischievously. This would cause anyone who was not in their first year or in their right mind to withdraw their offer and quickly leave the room. However, the third years' dormitory wasn't the only room boredom had infected and the game of Truth or Dare was moving rather slowly without them so instead Frank returned their mischievous grins and nodded.

* * *

 ******* **all rights reserved to John Hughes and J.K. Rowling of course.**

 **Thanks and happy Christmas (depending on when you read this and if you celebrate.)**

 **XO*****


	17. Dare or Dare

Chapter 17 Dare or Dare?

The boys followed Frank out of their dorm room ecstatic to finally have something to do. Frank led them, not to his room as they had assumed he would, but to a sixth-year dormitory. Frank laughed at the nervous look James, Peter, and Sirius exchanged as they followed Frank in.

The dormitory was a low lit room. They pinned up blankets over the windows so the only light that shone came from odd looking lamps with goop floating inside. (Peter explained that they were lava lamps.) They decorated the walls, corner to corner, with pictures of half dressed witches who winked and giggled at them. James blushed when he looked at them.

"Finally! Something interesting might happen," Gabe Pevensie said, passing a bottle of fire whisky to his neighbour Dirk Cresswell.

"Cresswell! I thought you said alcohol is bad for the system and we shouldn't drink it if we wanted to be successful in quidditch," James accused his quidditch captain as he watched him take a sip from the bottle. To his right, Adrian Longbottom blew a raspberry at him and gave him thumbs down.

"Don't be such a wimp, Potter," Adrian, who was sweating like a pig and was obviously drunk, said before he started laughing. "Wimpy, Potter. Wimpy, Potter."

"Adrian is rather drunk because he keeps refusing to do the dares," Frank explained.

"And there's no more quidditch for me for the rest of the year," Cresswell defended. "But there's no need for this now that third years are here." He took the bottle out of Adrian's hands who whined and threw the cap at his head but missed by a mile.

"Well, clearly drinking is not a good enough forfeit," James smirked, taking a seat in the half-formed circle.

"A horrible one really," Sirius agreed sitting next to James. Frank and Peter followed.

"I'm sure you have some suggestions," Cresswell smirked knowingly at his former Chaser.

"Plenty," James and Sirius said together.

"We always have one absolute punishment that's there in case someone tries to refuse to do the first punishment," Peter started.

"Like if I said, Peter I dare you to punch Snivellus in the face while he's surrounded by Slytherin seventh years," James said.

"Which I would refuse to do," Peter shuttered.

"Then he would have to choose between jumping into the black lake in nothing but ladies' underpants, or giving Bertha Jorkins a love potion," Sirius said.

"And I refuse again," Peter said, for the sake of the explanation.

"Then," James said followed by a dramatic "dun dun dun" by Sirius. "The ultimate forfeit. He'd have to… let's say give McGonagall a lap dance in a full Great Hall." The boys laughed at the thought.

"Those were all really great dare ideas and you wasted them on an explanation," Gabe complained.

"No one said you couldn't repeat them," Peter said.

"One of our rules is that we can't repeat dares," Creswell explained.

"May I suggest a loophole, captain?" James asked.

"You may," he responded.

"No one had to actually do the dare, it was all hypothetical," James answered.

"Fair point," Frank nodded.

"All in favour?" Cresswell said, raising his hand. Adrian threw his hand up causing him to lose his balance, but the vote was unanimous.

"Excellent," Sirius smirked.

"Any other rules we should know about?" Peter asked.

"Right!" Cresswell said climbing to his feet and getting into a stance James knew all too well. He rubbed the tips of his fingers together and walked slowly around the inside of their formed circle. "The most important rule; Rule number one: Everything that is said or done during this game is not repeated or explained. I.E. if Peter decided to jump into the Black Lake no one would be able to explain that it was a dare, ever, for as long as any of us live. Failure to follow this rule will result in extreme punishments." James rolled his eyes remembering that the number one rule about quidditch is no alcoholic beverages. "Number two: The dares may not be life altering, life threatening, or malicious. Meaning you may not take revenge on a previous darer - and the dares cannot get the victim expelled. Number three is no repeating dares…. What am I missing?"

"No teams," Gabe stated.

"Oh yeah, you can't gang up on one particular player, which no one seems to be following," Frank accused, punching Gabe's arm.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Gabe answered, sticking his nose in the air.

"Oh not at all," Frank answered, sarcastically.

"We have a few other rules," Sirius said and waited until he had everyone's attention. "You can't pick the person who picked you. You can't harm anyone. Like you can't dare someone to go jump a Slytherin. Trust me that gets out of hand."

"And you can't dare someone to be completely naked," Peter answered.

"Thank Merlin! I'm so done with the streaking dares," Gabe announced.

"Sounds fine. All agreed?" Cresswell asked and got six nods in response.

"Who goes first?" Frank asked.

"Should we go with the shortest?" Gabes suggested, looking at the group of third years. Sirius groaned.

"Really Black? You can't be the shortest!" Cresswell exclaimed.

"I had a growth spurt back in February," James grinned, sitting up straighter so he could show them he was taller than both Peter and Sirius now.

"Watch, after this summer-"

"You always say that Black and yet you never grow," James laughed.

"Shut up, James," Sirius said pushing him playfully. "And since you're being such a prat, truth or dare?"

"Truth, seeing as you're in such a bad mood," James answered. Sirius was expecting James to pick dare so he had to think for a moment.

"What is your biggest pet peeve?" Sirius asked, smirking.

"No, no, no, no. You'll just use it against me," James said, crossing his arms.

"Just answer the question," Sirius said.

"Yeah, answer the question!" Frank added.

"Answer the question, come on Potter!" Cresswell said.

"Fine!" James huffed. "People who walk slowly, or stop suddenly, or scuff their feet while they walk."

"But you're late for everything, why does it matter?" Sirius questioned. It was true, he was late for everything. The teachers had taken to leaving their doors open for him so he could sneak in five minutes late for class.

"I don't know it's just annoying. I'm trying to walk and you clearly have some sort of mental issue, just get out of the way!" James ranted.  
"I don't think walking slower than you constitutes a mental issue," Frank answered.

"You know what I meant," James said, rolling his eyes. "Gabe truth or dare?"

"Dare," Gabe answered without hesitation, excitement glowing in his eyes.

"Trade underpants with Cresswell for the rest of the day."

"What! That's disgusting," Gabe grimaced.

"Just be happy I changed my pants this morning," Cresswell laughed slipping his underpants out from under his wizard robes.

"Oh, dear Merlin!" Gabe groaned, taking the boxers. He slipped his own off and handed them to Cresswell who threw them behind him. "We have to trade!"

"It's not my dare!" Cresswell laughed. Gabe groaned and continued to mutter as he put another man's underpants on.

"Sirius, dare or dare?" Gabe asked after he finished.

"Erm… can he do that," Sirius asked, nervous about the glint that appeared in Gabe's eye.

"There's nothing in the rules that says he can't," Cresswell shrugged.

"Fine. Dare I guess," Sirius answered.

"Snog James, on the mouth, for fifteen seconds," Gabe answered.

"Oi, that's revenge!" James shouted over Sirius protest. Peter was laughing so hard his face was red and he had to lean on Frank for support.

"That's true Pevensie," Cresswell said, looking apologetically at his roommate.

"Fine," Gabe said grumpily. "Go out into the common room and sing God Save the Queen as loud as you can."

"Which one?" Sirius asked, but only got a confused look from Gabe. "There's the national anthem and the greatest song ever written, God Save the Queen by The Sex Pistols."

"The anthem, Black," Gabe answered.

"Sirius you could have just chosen yourself. It would have been funnier," James said.

"One might argue that they are both anthems," Sirius replied.

"Merlin's balls, the national anthem, the one that is apparently not the greatest song ever written," Gabe said.

"God save your little anarchist heart," James said as Sirius walked out the door bound for the common room.

They all waited until they heard Sirius screaming the words to the anthem at the top of his lungs. They soon heard a loud crash followed by squeaking springs.

"Pscho woman! Code RED! I repeat CODE RED!" Sirius screamed. James and Peter jumped to their feet and flew down the stairs to rescue their friend.

Alice, the second Gryffindor prefect from Frank's year, was chasing Sirius around the common room. A group of girl giggled as they watched Alice throwing pillows at Sirius trying to get him to stop "disturbing the peace." Sirius was singing the anthem as fast and as loud as he could while still running and dodging flying pillows.

"And God save us all!" Sirius finished, with a flourish of his hand and a bow. He pushed his way between James and Peter who were laughing along with Frank, Gabe, Cresswell, and Adrian.

"Alright, Frank. Truth or Dare?" Sirius asked once they got back to the dorm room.

"Dare," Frank said, still laughing and wiping a tear out of his eye.

"I dare you to go down there and tell your girlfriend off for trying to kill me with pillows!" Sirius demanded.

"Girlfriend? What-" Frank started but broke off seeing the looks on the other guy's faces. "Alice and I are - we're just-"

"We walked in on you two snogging in an empty classroom just a week ago," Peter said, rolling his eyes.

"B-"

"We all have, mate," Cresswell said.

"Fine we're sort of dating," Frank answered. "But Alice doesn't want it to be official. She thinks it'll distract her from her studies."

"It was a dare not a truth," Sirius said as Adrian made a whipping noise.

"Alright, fine. I'll do it. I guess," Frank said, not moving and eyeing the door.

"Well go!" Sirius ordered after a moment's pause. Frank lurched into action and the rest of them followed after.

"Alice!" Frank called, as he entered the common room. Alice, who was tidying up the common room, looked up startled by Frank's tone.

"Frank?" she answered. Frank glanced towards the girl's dormitory and was happy to see that the group of giggling girls had disappeared.

"We need to talk about what just happened," Frank said and tried to ignore the giggles he heard coming from his friends.

"Okay… you mean with Black, right?" Alice replied.

"Exactly. I don't know what you mean by trying to murder Sirius with pillows, but that was too far," Frank said trying to make himself look angry.

"I wasn't trying to murder him! I came down to tell him to stop singing, it was annoying as hell. Then he kicked over an end table and started jumping on the couch. Then I tried to get him down and he started screaming 'code red, code red' and running around like an idiot so then I started throwing pillows at him trying to get him to stop," Alice explained, sounding irritated.

"Fine just, don't throw pillows at students. If that's what you want," Frank added quickly, noticing the look on Alice's face.

"Fine," Alice said, with out expression.

"Oh, there's one more thing, Alice!" Sirius said, stepping out from behind the door causing the other boys to erupt with laughter. Alice looked from Sirius to Frank, confused. "Frank wants to be official."

Alice gasped and looked angrily at Frank.

"I didn't tell him!" Frank lied. Alice crossed her arms.

"We'll talk about this later," Alice said and stormed off to her dormitory.

"Als!" Frank called desperately but Alice ignored him and continued up the stairs. "You guys are a bunch of arseholes," Frank muttered as he followed his friends back to the dorm room.

"Relax Longbottom, she'll come round," Gabe told him.

"Not likely. Did you see her?" Adrian said in a loud whisper. Peter nudged him quiet. Gabe rested a heavy hand on Frank's shoulder.

"Sirius, sorry mate, but I think this one calls for revenge," Gabe said, not looking at all apologetic.

"What! On what grounds?" Sirius demanded.

"We did tell you that none of the dares could be life altering," Gabe explained.

"They weren't even official yet," James argued.

"Yes, we were," Frank grumbled.

"Fine," Sirius said, sitting on one of the trunks. "Whatcha got Longbottom?" Frank thought for a long moment, occasionally glaring at Sirius in the process. Frank's eyes sparked as he came up with the perfect dare but thought better of it, as it would be much too cruel if the rumours were true.

"I think I'll save my revenge dare for later," Frank said finally. Sirius groaned.

"Fine, but you still've gotta ask someone," Adrian told him.

"Right, James truth or dare?" Frank asked.

"Dare," James said. Frank smiled and winked at Gabe.

"Send a howler to your mum telling her that she's grounded," Frank said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. James froze in shock. Sirius shook with laughter as he visualised the small, kindhearted woman receiving a screaming letter from her only son announcing that she was on punishment.

"A-a-alright," James sputtered. He walked across the room to the desk covered in parchment. "What should I say?" James asked, picking up a quill and dipping it into the ink bottle.

"That you are extremely disappointed in her," Gabe suggested.

"Start by calling her 'mother'," Sirius said.

"'Mother, I am extremely disappointed in you,'" James spoke as he wrote the words down. "Oh no, 'mother' alone will be enough to get me killed!"

"Exactly why I suggested it," Sirius grinned.

"Now say, how could you do this to me?" Peter added. James wrote it down. "You're grounded for life, woman! Grounded! For. Life." Peter finished as even James chuckled thinking of the letter he was sure to get in the morning.

"Alright," James said, tapping his wand on the envelope turning it a furious red marking it as a howler. "Cresswell, dare or dare?"

"Hmm," Cresswell hummed, as he pretended to seriously consider his answer. "Dare."

"I dare you to come to the owlery with me and along the way propose to everyone that we run into," James smirked. Creswell gave a hearty laugh as he got to his feet.

"Well, if I must, I must," he said and followed James out to the owlery.

The moment their feet touched the floor outside of the portrait Mrs Norris came meowing from around the corner. James nudged his Quidditch Captain reminding him of his dare. Creswell swooped down on one knee and picked up Mrs Norris, holding her in the air above his head. She meowed and hissed as she tried to worm her way out of his grip.

"Mrs Norris, with eyes so red, will you do me the honour of becoming Mrs Norris Cresswell?" Cresswell spoke, with a mocked dreamy tone. Mrs Norris let out a long low hiss seeming to be in response to his question. "Well, I guess that answers that." Cresswell tossed her down and she scurried off behind the corner from which she came. James laughed so hard he had to lean against the wall for support.

"Come on, Filch won't be too far away," Cresswell said, gesturing for James to follow him.

"I'd love to see you propose to Filch!" James smirked but followed him nonetheless. Cresswell took on his dare with pride. He would swoop down dramatically on one knee whenever they passed a group of students and propose to each of them who either, scoffed, laughed, or blushed at Cresswell's proposal. He proposed to Professor Flitwick on the stairs leading up to the owlery. He merely laughed and bid the boys a good day.

"I'll take that as a no then?" Cresswell called after him and James keeled over with laughter.

Cresswell only faltered once. James had decided to take a detour on their way back to the dormitory and they ended up on the first floor. There was a group of seventh year Hufflepuff girls, playing exploding snaps in the otherwise deserted entrance hall. Cresswell froze on the steps, his eyes glued to a blonde girl, laughing as she conversed with her friends. James looked at him curiously. Cresswell's eyes were as wide as saucers and his face was as red as a tomato. He gulped then took a deep breath and continued down the stairs with his head held high, his colour fading slightly.

"Good afternoon, ladies," Cresswell drawled, gaining the attention of the group.

"Hey, Dirk," the girl he had been staring at grinned. "We were just playing a game, would you like to join?"

"No thanks Cassie, I actually wanted to ask you something," Cresswell answered, throwing a mischievous grin to James. He swooped down on one knee so that he was eye-level with her, took her hand in both of his, and locked eyes with hers with the most earnest expression on his face. Cassie shifted nervously. "Will you marry me?" Cresswell asked gravely. The girls surrounded them sniggered, James smirked, Cassie blinked rapidly, her facial expression relaxing.

"Merlin Dirk, I thought you were being serious," Cassie breathed.

"Oh but I am," Cresswell said bringing one of his hands to his chest. "Cassie Rosier, please say you will. My heart will break if I have to spend another moment without you. I want you, I need you, I love you!"

"Well, since you said please," Cassie laughed lightly but James noticed a slight raise in colour in her cheeks.

"Well, James, I finally got a yes. What do ya think of that?" Cresswell beamed, still crouched in front of his fiance.

"I guess that means you can't propose to people anymore. Pity," James pouted.

"Until next time sweet Cassie," Cresswell said and kissed her hand that still rested in his sending the girls into another fit of giggles. James and Cresswell walked off while Cresswell smiled to himself. James looked suspiciously at his captain's unwavering smile.

"So, Cassie," James said, a slight tease in his voice.

"Yeah, Cassie," Cresswell sighed. James chuckled and only then did Cresswell turn to look at him, his eyes wide knowing what James had probably caught onto. "We're just friends," he said quickly. "And not like Frank and Alice friends. We're friends friends. Just…."

"Friends?" James finished. Cresswell nodded. "Well, hey I get it. I also get that you have a splitting headache and desperately need a tonic that only Madam Pomfrey can produce." James pretended to be very interested in his fingernails as he said this. They rounded the corner that led straight to the hospital wing.

"So you're going to tell everyone about this if I don't pretend to have a headache?" Cresswell asked. James nodded. "Or I could just make sure you don't make it onto the quidditch team next year."

"Choice is yours," James shrugged.

"Two years without quidditch James Potter," Cresswell threatened.

"Technically one and a half," James said with only a hint of bitterness. Cresswell's eyes narrowed. Gryffindor had lost every match since James got kicked off the team. Next year was his last chance at the cup. He wasn't about to give that up and James knew it.

"Alright fine," Cresswell groaned.

"Great, while you're in there if you see Lupin give him this." James pulled his half of the mirror out of his pocket and handed it to Cresswell.

"Why can't you do it?" Cresswell asked.

"She never lets me in there when Lupin gets sick like this," James explained, waving him off. "Make sure she doesn't see it. I'll wait for you by the stairs." James ran off down the corridor before Cresswell had a chance to respond. He looked down at the broken mirror in his hand before placing it in his pocket.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Cresswell called, peeking his head through the door. The room was void of people. The beds were all neatly made and looked as if the last inhabitant had been Marlene Mckinnon back in April. They never did find out who attacked her. Cresswell entered the room slowly. Once fully in, he noticed a bed with the curtains drawn tightly around it that the door had blocked from his view. He drew the curtains apart slowly, the rings racking against the metal rod, breaking the icy silence. Remus Lupin lay in the bed, his face looking haggard and pale, dark circles were under his eyes ageing him. He could easily pass for a short thirty-year-old. His breathing was too shallow and too quick for someone to be sleeping peacefully, but still, he didn't stir.

"Lupin," Cresswell said softly and prodded his arm with an outstretched finger. Remus's eyebrows frowned as he drew his blanket closer to his body with a frail looking hand. "Remus," Cresswell whispered, placing a firm hand on Remus's arm. Remus's eyes blinked open. He stared at Cresswell confused. Cresswell gulped. Remus usually had light eyes, but when he had opened them they were very nearly black and had yet to go back to their normal colour.

"Who? Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Remus asked hoarsely, raising to a sitting position looking panicked.

"Dunno," Cresswell shrugged. He eyed Remus, not remembering ever seeing someone looking so ill. "James told me to give you this." Cresswell reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror.

"James?" Remus said vaguely, looking back to Cresswell sending chills through him. His eyes were still black.

"You are Remus Lupin, right?" Cresswell asked nervously. Perhaps he got the wrong kid? He could have sworn he'd seen this one hanging around at quidditch practice.

"Yeah, Remus Lupin," Remus answered falling back to the bed.

"And you know James Potter?" Cresswell asked.

"Course, he's my best mate," Remus grinned sleepily.

"Well, he wanted me to give you this." Cresswell extended his arm, holding the mirror out with the tips of his fingers. Remus took the mirror, looking as confused as Cresswell felt. He examined it, eyed Cresswell, then went back to the mirror and realisation seemed to fall over him. Excitement lit up his face, bringing colour back to his cheeks. He sat up and pushed the pillows up behind him so he could rest against them. He licked his dry lips as he watched the mirror seeming to wait for something.

"Thank you," he said to Cresswell, having momentarily forgotten his presence. Cresswell sighed in relief as he noticed Remus's eyes had lightened. _Must have been something with the lighting_ , he told himself. "James!" Remus yelled in a hoarse whisper into the mirror. Much to Cresswell's surprise, James's voice echoed back.

"Hey-ya Lupin," he could practically hear James's grin. The rumours were true, these boys were in love with each other.

"James, you know what Madam Pomfrey said," Remus began to scold."That I'm not allowed to step foot into the hospital wing today," James smirked. Cresswell had crept up next to Remus and was peering over his shoulder. James's face was in the mirror instead of Remus's. "Nice work Cresswell," James complimented as Cresswell came into view. "Hurry up and get back here. Remus, keep this with you and make sure Pomfrey doesn't see it. She'll take it away."

"I really should be resting James," Remus said, reluctantly.

"If you get tired you can take a nap. I just figured you wouldn't want to miss out on this," James grinned.

"On what?" Remus questioned.

"Truth or dare," James said nonchalantly but Remus's eyes sparked with excitement, bringing them back to normal.

"I suppose it'll be fine as long as you guys don't dare me to do anything that requires me getting out of bed," Remus warned. He still looked tired and worn but his youth seemed to have returned to him.

"But of course, Loopy," James smirked. "Cresswell, ya comin?" James barked at his astounded looking captain.

"I'll be right there," Cresswell answered. He gave one last worried glance to the now elated looking Remus and dashed out the door.

Cresswell bombarded James with questions starting at the foot of the stairs all the way up to the fat lady's portrait.

"Look, I didn't even make 'em. Remus did. And don't go asking him, he's sick," James said irritably.

"Yeah, I noticed," Cresswell said. "Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine. He's just got a condition," James shrugged.

"A condition?" Cresswell pressed.

"Yeah, they don't know much about it yet. But he gets sick from time to time," James answered. James spotted McGonagall striding down the corridor, shifting through a file. "Oh, Cresswell, just one more proposal," James begged. Cresswell followed his gaze.

"To McGonagall!" Cresswell growled.

"You're the Gryffindor quidditch captain. The worst she'll do is take points away for being a perv," James argued. He folded his hands together and pouted his lip. Cresswell sighed as McGonagall stopped abruptly.

"Potter?" McGonagall said sharply. James straightened his stance and gave one last longing look to Cresswell.

"Afternoon, Professor," James said silkily. McGonagall opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it.

"Good afternoon, Mr Potter, Mr Cresswell," she said. Cresswell nodded in her direction, seeming nervous about something. McGonagall's eyes narrowed at the boys.

"Where's Black?" she asked James.

"Up in the dormitory," James answered. Again, McGonagall looked suspicious but decided not to say anything.

"If you're headed back up there would you get word out that I want all Gryffindors in the Great Hall, please," McGonagall requested.

"Any particular reason?" James inquired.

"You'll soon find out, won't you?" McGonagall said with a small smile and brushed past the boys. James started clucking quietly at Cresswell. Cresswell groaned.

"Wait, Professor!" Cresswell called after her. McGonagall turned on her heels to see Cresswell jogging up to her. "I've got something to ask you! Please don't kill me."

"If that was your question, Mr Cresswell, I assure you, you're safe," McGonagall said briskly and turned to leave.

"That's not the question," Cresswell said. "Don't know why I'm doing this," he muttered almost unintelligibly as McGonagall turned back toward him. Having heardthis, McGonagall's eyes shot automatically to James. James was grinning wickedly, his eyes shooting from hers to Cresswell getting slowly to his knees, not knowing what he wanted to see more. Cresswell cleared his throat. "Professor," he began, "marry me. Please." Her eyes shot wildly between Cresswell and James.

"Mr Cresswell, please get off the floor, it does not do well to beg," McGonagall said finally. "Mr Potter," she said, much more harshly, "I think you'll find that attempting to humiliate your quidditch captain will not do well in your future. If I were your captain I would make sure that you spend every waking moment sore and exhausted."

"Ah, but Professor you are not my captain. And Cresswell has taken an oath not to take revenge for anything that might happen today. So you see, I am perfectly safe," James said, haughtily.

"No one said it was revenge, it's just good training," she said, sending a wink to Cresswell before turning away from them. "Do remember to pass on my message," McGonagall said airily as she drifted down the stairs. James stared after his professor. Cresswell gave an odd sounding giggle.

"That was not the response I was expecting," Cresswell said.

"She has got to be my favourite teacher," James said.

"You do seem to like girls who can kick your arse," Cresswell remarked. He gave the password absently to the Fat Lady who gave her agreement with Cresswell to the arguing James as she swung open.

Their friends were sitting in the common room in front of the fire. Peter had underpants on his head. Sirius had a dozen tiny ponytails sticking up on top of his head. He was sitting at Marlene's feet as she tied more in. Adrian was sitting with his feet in the air and his head on the ground looking flushed as Gabe counted down seconds on his watch. Frank was in a floral mini dress and was trying to hide his rather hairy legs with a throw pillow.

"Well, you blokes have been busy," Cresswell said, throwing himself down next to Frank. He tried taking the pillow from him but Frank clutch onto it for dear life.

"How did the proposals go?" Peter asked, smirking as he pushed the underpants further up his forehead.

"I proposed to McGonagall," Cresswell said proudly, earning a laugh from his cohorts.

"And when's the wedding," Marlene laughed, snapping a band around a bunch of Sirius's hair. Sirius winced at the noise.

"Dunno, she wouldn't give me a straight answer. She did give me permission to torture James though," Cresswell grinned. "Are you playing now?"

"Yes, sir," Marlene smirked, as Sirius whined beneath her.

"These are too tight, Mckinnon!" Sirius wailed.

"Oh, relax. It'll help your hair grow," she told him.

"James will mumsie get the letter?" Sirius asked, leaning away from Marlene's fingers.

"Yes, and she'll pay me back in kind tomorrow morning mark my words. I just hope she's not with anyone when she gets it or else it'll be about nappy cream or something," James sighed.

"I take it you get your sense of humour from her?" Gabe asked, looking away from his watch.

"Oy! You're supposed to be timing me!" Adrian yelled, looking as if he were about to burst.

"I wish I could have seen Maggie's face when you asked her," Peter sighed wistfully.

"Oh, maybe we could do it again!" James grinned.

"Absolutely not! Not in front of the whole house!" Cresswell declared.

"The whole house?" Gabe questioned, much to a grunting Adrian's disapproval.

"She wants us all to come down to the Great Hall," Cresswell told them heaving a sigh.

"We should round everybody up then," Frank said.

Gabe nodded, his eyes glued to his watch. "Annnnnd time!" Adrian flipped over as he sighed in relief and bounce back onto his feet.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go vomit then try to get the smell of fire whisky off of me," Adrian told them as he took his leave. Cresswell, Gabe, and Frank dashed up the stairs to their dormitory to fetch the rest of the Gryffindor boys. Frank pulled the dress down as low as he could get it as he skipped up the steps.

"Hey, Marlene, would you mind rounding up the girls for us," Sirius asked, his pained face looked hopeful. "Seeing as we're not allowed up there," he added when he got no answer.

"Almost done," Marlene muttered, trying to force a tiny bunch of hair into the rubber band. "Alright," she sighed, flexing her fingers, "see you gits in the Great Hall."

Sirius massaged his aching scalp. Peter scratch at the band of the underpants around his head. James moved strategically in front of them and pulled Sirius's half of the mirror out of his pocket.

"Lupin!" James yelled, hoping that Remus had not gone back to sleep. Moments later Remus's face appeared in the mirror. "Look," James grinned and angled the mirror so he could see his other friends. Sirius and Peter scowled at James but waved halfheartedly at Remus. Remus laughed at the sight of them.

"Brilliant," Remus complimented.

"How're you feeling?" Peter asked.

"Fine," Remus shrugged.

"Well, I'm not! Bloody wench tied these things too tight!" Sirius complained, making Remus laugh again.

"Oh, and I got Cresswell to propose to Maggie!" James said, pulling the mirror back to him.

"You didn't!" Remus exclaimed, not sounding like he didn't believe it. "What'd she say?"

"That Cresswell has every right to make me miserable as long as he's my quidditch captain," James answered. Remus made a noise of concern. "Don't worry, one of their rules is they can't take revenge."

"Why did we never think about that?" Remus asked, thinking of all the times the boys have ganged up on him for his malevolent dares.

"We need motivation sometimes, Lupin," James told him. People were starting to flood into the common room. Sirius and Peter got to their feet ignoring the strange looks they got. "We've gotta go to the Great Hall. Keep the mirror out," James ordered and followed Sirius and Peter out of the portrait hole.

* * *

 *****I should explain that it's a headcanon of mine that werewolves slowly start to forget details about their lives leading up to the transformation. Hence, Remus not remembering who Cresswell was even though he's James's captain. I don't think it's supported by cannon but it makes sense (to me at least) because while in wolf form they don't remember who they are. IDK let me know what you guys think.**

 **Sorry, it's so long but believe it or not its only part one (part two will be more relevant to the plot, I promise)**

 **Any other questions, comments, or concerns you know where to leave them. I love hearing from you guys and seriously appreciate the feedback!**

 **XO*****


	18. FOOD FIGHT!

Chapter 18 FOOD FIGHT! (Aka Dare or Dare pt2)

The Great Hall was full of not only Gryffindor students, but students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin as well. It was rare for the Great Hall to be this full, it usually only happened three times a year: the feast, Halloween, and the last meal. The Head of Houses were pacing up and down the aisles waiting for the rest of their students to arrive.

James held the mirror between the three of them as the huddled closely around trying to hear Remus over the noise. They told him all about the dares they had already faced and the ones they were planning. Remus gave them a few ideas. Sirius complained repeatedly about his hair.

"At least you don't look completely mental," Peter told him as Cresswell finally joined them. Frank went off looking for Alice.

"He can only get out of the dress if Alice sees him in it," Sirius explained.

Marlene was chatting with a group of girls not far from them. Adrian had run off to the toilets again, finally sobering up. Gabe was sitting with his girlfriend at the opposite end of the table.

"Alright, boys? Remus?" Cresswell greeted, peering into the mirror. Remus responded politely. "Brilliant piece of magic you did," Cresswell said, referring to the mirrors.

"Er… thanks," Remus said awkwardly. James cleared his throat and shot a warning look to Cresswell.

"So, who's turn is it?" Cresswell said, casually changing the subject.

"Well, after you left, Frank dared me, then I dared Gabe, Gabe dared Adrian, Adrian dared Sirius, then Marlene joined and dared Sirius, Sirius dared Adrian…. I think that's it. So Adrian's turn?" Peter answered.

"But I dared Cresswell last and he hasn't gone," James said.

"And Adrian's not here," Sirius pointed out.

"I can't hear you guys!" Remus called.

"We're just deciding who goes next!" Peter told him.

"And it's me, so James, truth or dare?" Cresswell asked.

"Err, dare," James answered, answered handing the mirror off to Peter.

"Go get that red head you fancy and tell her you love her... then kiss her," Cresswell dared.

"Ooo, nice one," Remus complimented. Peter and Sirius smirked as James grew bright red.

"She'll kill me" he mumbled.

"What'd he say?" Remus asked.

"That she'll kill him," Peter answered as Sirius laughed while trying to hide it from James.

"It'll be alright," Sirius said after he gained control of himself. "Just do it quick."

"Didn't you have a thing for her in your first year?" Gabe asked after Cresswell caught him up, making James's blush deeper.

"I'll be right back," James said, slipping out of his seat and walking slowly towards Lily. Sirius, Cresswell, and Gabe watched.

"Peter, truth or dare?" Remus asked, knowing he wouldn't be able to see what happened.

"Er, truth," Peter answered, looking back and forth between the mirror and James. James tapped Lily nervously on the shoulder and she spun around.

"Lame!" Remus shouted, loud enough for a student sitting next to them jump in surprise.

Lily got to her feet and James pulled her by the hand into the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

"Okay, if you had to kiss one of your - no - anyone on the staff who would it be?"

James looked pointedly at them then back at Lily and mouthed the words 'I love you.'

"Err… M-madam Hooch," Peter said now looking directly at James and a flustered Lily Evans.

James grabbed her by the shoulders, looked as if he was going to lean in for a kiss but pulled back. Instead, he took her hand again, kissed it, and ran back to the table, leaving Lily blushing and confused in the middle of the aisle. They all laughed at him - all except Remus who had no idea what was going on. James jumped back into his seat and slammed his head onto the table.

"I think that went well," Sirius said seriously causing Peter to start laughing again.

"Oh, shove off!" James groaned, snatching the mirror back. "Remus, truth or dare?"

"Er… truth," Remus answered.

"Ah surprise, surprise," James laughed. Remus was notorious for picking truths but giving out horribly good dares.

"Did you cry when the ginger picked up your books for you?" Peter asked. This had been an ongoing debate with the boys since second year. Remus thoroughly denied it ever happened but Sirius insisted he saw tears when Remus turned around and James swore his eyes were red later on. Remus growled at Peter.

"Just pretend I said that," James said, laughing again.

"Yes," he hissed. The other three laughed triumphantly but Cresswell looked confused.

"Why would that make you cry?" Gabe asked.

"I was having a bad day," Remus muttered sheepishly.

"Lupin, your turn," James said.

"Sirius."

"Yes."

"Truth or Dare?"

Sirius grinned wickedly at Remus. He was the only one who ever enjoyed Remus's dares.

"Do you really have to ask?" Sirius answered.

"We'll start off simple," Remus said, smiling. "Write a friendly letter to Slughorn telling him how your day is going. Notice I said friendly, not even a hint of dislike in that letter. Peter will proofread before you send it," Remus said. Peter nodded dutifully. James's grin looked like his face was split in two. Cresswell chuckled heartily.

"He's here in the Great Hall with us," Sirius told him.

"Even better," Remus shrugged.

"We're not allowed out of the Great Hall, how will I send it to him?" Sirius countered.

"Just pass it down to him," Remus answered. Sirius sighed defeated. He looked down the table for anyone who had parchment and a quill. He dashed off down the hall noticing a seventh year studying for his NEWTs. Marlene came up as Sirius disappeared.

"What'd I miss," Marlene asked brightly, throwing herself into Sirius's old seat.

"James professed his love to Lily Evans and kissed her. On her hand. It was very romantic," Gabe told her. James glared at him.

"Remus dared Sirius to write a letter to Slughorn," Cresswell continued.

"Remus?" Marlene asked. They gestured towards the mirror and Marlene saw Remus staring back at her. "Oh! Hey, Remus!"

"Hello miss," Remus said politely.

"It's Marlene," Marlene reminded. Marlene and Remus sometimes studied together in the library (Sirius never had the patience to teach Remus anything, James hated studying, and Peter never wanted to miss out on what Sirius and James were planning,) so she was a little confused about why he didn't remember her.

"Right! I knew that. I did. I'm just… not at my best right now," Remus assured her, looking apologetic.

"You do look a little under the weather," Marlene admitted, looking concerned.

"I'll be fine in a few days," Remus smiled.

"I guess that means we'll need to have a study session when you get out?" Marlene offered.

"That would be lovely, thank you, Marlene," Remus answered.

"Uh, our tutoring starts when you get out so they'll be no study sessions for you two on that day!" James ordered.

"It feels so good to be in normal clothes again!" Frank announced as he took his seat across from the other four, now dressed in his usual clothes. "I don't know how you girls do it all the time."

"Who's that?" Remus asked, having heard the new voice.

"Frank Longbottom," Marlene answered, nudging James so he would turn the mirror.

"Blimey! Hey, Remus!" Frank said, looking impressed.

"Hello Frank," Remus responded. Frank took the mirror out of James's hand and examined it from all angles.

"Where did you get this?" Frank asked.

"Convenience store," Remus answered, facing the stormy ceiling.

"What'd ya mean you got it from a convenience store? You told me you made it," James questioned as Sirius came back with a fresh piece of parchment and a quill. He climbed over the table and took a seat next to Frank having noticed that Marlene was in his previous one. Marlene was talking avidly with Peter. Gabe and Cresswell had gone to talk to the Ravenclaw captain about him potentially beating the Slytherins and winning the cup.

"I bought the mirror from a convenience store and accidently charmed it when I was flipping through one of my dad's old books," Remus explained.

"You did this accidentally!" Frank yelled looking into the mirror at Remus. Remus looked shocked at his tone.

"Not exactly. Dad had written a spell in the margins and I tried it out. I was aiming for one of my old toys but hit the mirror instead," Remus shrugged.

"How did you figure out what it did?" Sirius asked.

"Well when I hit it, it broke and one of the pieces fell behind the shelf and I couldn't reach it, so I took the one that I could reach out to the trash. But then my mum came in with my laundry while I was out and I caught her face in the mirror, so yeah," Remus told them. James chuckled and shook his head. Sirius arch a brow at him. Frank was still examining the mirror.

"What was the spell?" Frank asked.

"Don't remember," Remus answered. "If I find it again I'll write you but Dad took the book after I told him about it."

"You told him!" Sirius said.

"Well, yeah. It was a spell I knew nothing about, it could have been dangerous," Remus answered. Sirius shook his head in disbelief. James chuckled knowing Sirius didn't understand why anyone would tell their parents anything.

"Aren't you supposed to be writing?" James reminded Sirius before he could say anything more.

"Right," Sirius jumped, taking the quill in hand and began to scribble on the parchment. "Dear fat old slug."

"I said friendly! James tell him not to write that!" Remus protested.

"Relax Lupin, he's just joshing you," James laughed.

Adrian came striding up, looking pale and dehydrated but otherwise better. Professor McGonagall wrapped her wand against the staff table calling for attention and the other Head of Houses hushed the crowd. Sirius passed his letter to Peter who began to read with interest. James waved goodbye to Remus and shoved the mirror back into his pocket. The Hall fell silent with every set of eyes turned toward their Deputy Headmistress.

"I'm sure by now you've all been wondering why we've called you here," she started, earning a few sarcastic remarks and scattered affirmations. McGonagall waited once again for silence. "It has not gone unnoticed that there has been a rivalry going on between the four houses that has been less than friendly." Once again the Great Hall broke out in scattered comments, even some laughs. James and Sirius stared straight ahead eyeing their professor suspiciously. The room settled once again and McGonagall continued. "In order to remedy this, Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff has decided to throw a little mixer." McGonagall paused expecting her students to erupt again but an icy silence had fallen as the houses glared at each other. McGonagall cleared her throat and the teachers nodded to her supportively. "When I say go, you will all get up and make a new group of at least four. Each house has to be present in your group. Is that understood?" McGonagall asked, waiting for a response but again none came. She looked around the Hall catching James's and Sirius's eye. They nodded to her, trying to keep the anger out of their stares. They understood what she was trying to do but couldn't fully support it, not knowing what they knew. "Alright, go!"

There was a very long pause. Eilidh Nicnevin and Lily Evans were the first to stand. Lily strode straight over to the Slytherin table. Eilidh stopped by the Ravenclaws to grab her brother by the hand and drag him over to join Lily with Severus. Regulus Black stood next and walked over to the Ravenclaws sitting next to a group he was often seen with. Wilkes and Cassie from Hufflepuff stood and walked to the Slytherins to sit next to Malfoy and Narcissa.

"Alright, let's stick together," James said to his friends. Marlene looked apprehensively at the Slytherins. She may not have remembered who attacked her but she knew it was one of them.

"Hey," Sirius said, taking Marlene's hand, "we'll sit next to my brother, he's only a first year." Marlene nodded looking relieved. She gave Sirius's hand a grateful squeeze before letting go and following the boys over to the Ravenclaws. "Alright, Reggie?" Sirius greeted with a smile. Regulus sighed heavily at the sight of his brother but moved over all the same. "You know I don't think we've talked since I had detention with 'the Great Slug,'" Sirius remarked.

"Perhaps there was a reason for it," Regulus commented. Sirius laughed heartily, throwing his head back. James smiled at Regulus who scowled back at him. "Nice one, Regulus. Anyway, you already know James. He's a half-blood and the biggest muggle supported who's ever walked the halls of Hogwarts." James grinned proudly. "Oh and that's Marlene Mckinnon. You might know her because one of your house mates put her in the hospital wing a couple months back. She's a half-blood, I do believe." Marlene nodded her affirmation.

"Also a muggle supporter," she added.

"And that's Peter Pettigrew muggle born, obviously a big muggle supporter," Sirius continued.

"Rumour has it he's in love with Madam Hooch," James muttered. Peter elbowed him as a blush crept up his face.

"Frank and Adrian Longbottom, purebloods but I dare say bigger blood traitors than even I," Sirius said.

"Nonsense Sirius, it doesn't count when all their family are blood traitors," Regulus told him with mocking comfort.

"Hear that? Guess I'm better than you after all," Sirius said proudly, grinning at the Longbottoms. They shared an awkward glance but didn't respond. "So who are these lovely children?" Sirius asked, waving a hand at his brother's friends.

"Jordan Fawley, Mikael Nott, Astraeus Shafiq - we usually call her Star- and Stephanie Travers, all purebloods," Regulus said proudly, gesturing to each of his friends.

"Weren't you at my Aunt's party last summer?" Sirius asked Jordan Fawley who looked extremely affronted about being addressed.

"Yes, I was," he said proudly. The rest of the group scowled at the newcomers as Sirius attempted to make friendly conversation with Fawley.

"Isn't Astraeus a boy name?" James asked, irritably. The girl stared blankly back at him. "I mean that's gotta suck being a girl with a boys name. I once met a bloke named Maurice, and the other guys…." James trailed off laughing at the memory. She continued to stare looking angrier as James continued on. "Though it can't be that bad being a girl with a guys name. Most girl names sound pretty but guys names just sound like names. Like your name -Astraeus- it's pretty cool. Sounds almost warrior-ish." James finished and waited for an answer. She was glaring at him now and gritting her teeth. Meanwhile, Sirius was doing the same. Talking none stop, seeming to expect an answer but receiving none. Slughorn came over, clutching Sirius's letter in his hand, beaming. He expressed his immense gratitude for the letter and once again invited him to join the Slug Club.

"So what's it like being in Ravenclaw?" Marlene asked Travers who jumped when she asked.

"Er fine, I guess," she answered nervously, staring at the people around her.

"It seems pretty cool," Marlene continued, "though I don't think I could keep up with all those riddles. I tried to get up there one time in my second year, don't remember why, but I was stuck in front of the door for a good thirty minutes because I couldn't guess the answer. Still, can't. I think it was… 'marking mortal privation, when firmly in place. An enduring summation, inscribed on my face." Marlene chanted, screwing her face up trying to remember correctly.

"It's a tombstone," Travers answered condescendingly.

"Oh, that makes sense! But see what I mean you got that instantly and I've been trying to understand it for a year," Marlene laughed.

"Yeah, the sorting hat certainly knows what it's doing," Travers said, turning her body away from Marlene. Marlene sighed and turned back to the other Gryffindors. Food had appeared at the table. Small sandwiches and cakes with a steaming teapot and teacups each with a different house emblem on them. The Hufflepuff's Head of House, Professor Kettleburn came striding up to them with a group of Hufflepuff's shyly trailing behind. Peter squirmed and averted his eyes. Professor Kettleburn was missing half of his left arm and half of his right hand's fingers, it never failed to make Peter queasy.

"Looks like you lot could use a few badgers," Kettleburn said grinning toothily at them. He waved the Hufflepuffs forward. The Gryffindors forced the Ravenclaws to make room for them, some a little more aggressively than others. "This is Fae Archer, Tina Davis, and Brian Cutler. Please make them feel welcome," Kettleburn said, giving them one last toothy grin before striding off across the hall. Sirius and Regulus had dropped the fake courtesies and were now at each others throats. The Hufflepuffs looked rather concerned for the two.

"Are you Josie Archer's sister?" James asked, trying to divert their attention.

"Er… yeah. I'm Fae, a fourth year," Fae answered in a soft voice. James nodded and smiled as welcomingly as he could with Regulus shouting insults at his best friend. He decided not to get involved unless one of the Ravenclaws decided to join in.

"What about you two?" James asked.

"Second year," Tina answered, smiling shyly.

"Fifth," Brian said, glaring around the room.

"Well, at least I don't kiss Mum's arse every chance I get!" Sirius yelled, gaining the attention of half the hall. Regulus gasped before erupting into a string of swears, throwing food at his brother with every word he spoke. Sirius took hit after hit before finally drawing out his wand, deflecting the food as he would a hex. Regulus threw his teacup at him which crashed to the floor after Sirius ducked out of its way, catching the rest of the Halls attention. Regulus and Sirius didn't seem to notice as they continued their argument. McGonagall and Slughorn swiftly walked through the hall towards the pair. James tried to warn them, shaking Sirius's arm trying to get his attention. "Stay out of this James!" Sirius yelled, his attention finally leaving his brother as he turned towards James. McGonagall came to a stop directly behind Sirius and having felt her presence the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He saw her stern expression reflected in James's glasses before he turned slowly around to face it head on.

"Mr Black, I don't believe a food fight is ever allowed in the Great Hall," McGonagall said, eyeing a piece of lettuce dangling from Sirius's still ridiculous hair style.

"This is not a food fight!" Sirius said, his anger raising his voice.

"Mr Black quiet down, this is supposed to be peaceful," McGonagall warned.

"I! Will not! Be! Silenced!" Sirius yelled, jumping to his feet. Sirius paled realising what he had done.

"Nor will I!" James yelled, jumping up to his feet. He hit Peter's arm and he too stood with them.

"Me neither!" Peter said firmly though looked confused.

"Enough!" McGonagall ordered. The three of them gulped. James stood on his chair.

"It's not enough Maggie!" James said. Sirius and Peter stared up at him in disbelief. Sirius and Peter stood up on the chairs next to him.

"If it's silence you want then its silence you'll get!" Sirius said. James looked at him. This was not the direction he was going in. Sirius shot him a look telling him to go along with it.

"Yeah!" Peter called, supportively.

"From henceforth James, Peter, and I will be taking a vow of silence!" Sirius announce to the entire Great Hall.

"You three out now!" McGonagall yelled.

"She doesn't think we can do it," Sirius told them, smirking.

"I bet we could do it for an entire month," James scoffed.

"10 galleons says that we can stay silent for an entire month, what say you, Professor?" Peter smirked.

"I say you're already failing," McGonagall said. "Now into the corridor this very second!"

"Don't you want to take the bet, Professor?" Sirius smiled innocently. "No? Anyone else? Either want to join us in our vow or take our bet talk to Frank Longbottom!"

"Anyone who moves from their seats will receive a detention," McGonagall said, sending a threatening look throughout the Hall. "You three out. Now!"

"Can't Professor, you said not to move from our seats," James said innocently, the three of them having jumped into a sitting position at her threat. McGonagall's nostrils flared and her lips were so thin they were almost nonexistent.

"Our vow starts now by the way," Sirius said and the three of them shut their mouths tightly. James was trying to hide a smirk and Peter was trying to calm his breathing. What had he gotten himself into? Sirius stared blankly ahead, ignoring his brother completely. Regulus was staring incredulously at him. Regulus had only received one detention for causing a disturbance. But with the new disturbance, Sirius was bound to be expelled.

"P-professor. It was only a friendly food fight," Regulus said meekly.

"Mr Black I suggest you stay out of this," McGonagall warned.

"But we were all in on it, weren't we Frank?" Marlene said. Frank nodded.

"Yeah, it was fun," Fae said, having taken a liking to James Potter in the short time she knew him.

"That's right. It was just a friendly food fight, right Adrian?" Frank smiled, taking a piece of cake and crushing it onto his chest. Adrian gasped in horror.

"Yeah," Adrian laughed manically over McGonagall's protest," Yeah that's right, all for fun!" Adrian smashed a cucumber sandwich onto Marlene's head who shrieked and threw another piece of cake at him but missed and hit Tina instead. Tina threw food at Brian who returned in kind. Soon the Ravenclaws and Regulus joined in, extending the fight further along the table. Then the Slytherin table behind them erupted into chaos, followed by the Hufflepuff's table on the other side, lastly the Gryffindor's table.

The Head of Houses were desperately trying to restore order, using magic to stop flying food from hitting students. Many students had taken refuge under the tables, covering their head protectively with their arms. Lily Evans had thrown a whole cake at Evan Rosier making James's grin impossible to hide. James, Sirius, and Peter dared not move. McGonagall stood directly in front of them staring them down. James and Sirius stared around the room proud of the chaos that they had practically caused. Peter seemed on the verge of tears, especially when McGonagall announce that the three of them would be having detention for a month. Just as the chaos seemed to have no end and the teachers had just about given up, someone threw a cake across the hall, hitting a tall man in bright blue wizard robes who had entered the Great Hall unnoticed. The Hall fell silent. The cake fell with a loud, echoing splat at his feet. The man took out his wand, waved it in front of his face and the remaining frosting disappeared revealing him to be whom they all fear it was: Albus Dumbledore.

The students lurched into action, scuffling back to their seats, drawing their chairs out loudly, sitting, then staring, terrified, at the person across from them. Dumbledore walked calmly down the aisle, stepping over the food that littered the floor, smiling at the few students who dared look at him.

"It would seem that my rendezvous was more eventful that I originally planned," Dumbledore smiled at his students. Some laughed nervously, others bowed their head in shame, others were still too afraid to move, most couldn't believe that Dumbledore had made a joke out of this situation. "Professor Slughorn!" Dumbledore called. Slughorn stood abruptly upright having taken refuge behind the staff table.

"Yes, sir!" Slughorn spoke, his expression unreadable.

"You seem to have had the best seat in the house. Did it appear to you that the students were enjoying themselves?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Well, yes. Yes, I dare say they did," Slughorn answered merrily, glancing around the room at his slowly relaxing students. He caught Lily's eye and winked at her.

"And they were mixing quite nicely with the other houses?" Dumbledore asked, taking note of the integrated house colours. They're were Slytherins even at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore smiled broadly at them.

"Yes, of course," Slughorn laughed, allowing others to do the same.

"Then I suppose we can consider today a success. You are dismissed. Please clean yourselves up and prepare for dinner," Dumbledore said, waving a hand at his students. The Hall erupted into motion once again with students scurrying to leave. McGonagall motioned for James, Peter, and Sirius to stay, so they smiled reassuringly at their friends and watched them leave.

"This wasn't at all a success," Professor Flitwick squeaked after the last of the students were gone.

"Actually Professor, I think you'll soon find it was an immense success," Dumbledore said, walking over to McGonagall and the three boys. "Hello gentlemen, Minerva," Dumbledore greeted.

"Albus," McGonagall answered, while the boys nodded and waved bound to silence by their vow.

"I take it you three were the cause of all this?" Dumbledore asked. His tone was not stern or friendly, just mildly curious. Peter bowed his head, Sirius gave a half smile, and James shrugged.

"They have taken a vow of silence," McGonagall explained, her exasperation clear in her voice.

"I see," Dumbledore said, his beard twitching. James and Sirius looked innocently back at him. Peter had tears streaming down his face. It was hard to say whether Dumbledore was amused by their mischief or by their appearance. Peter still wore underpants on his head, Sirius still had rubber bands in his hair, though most had fallen out by now, and James was covered in condiments and frosting. Lily and Severus had taken advantage of a brief moment when McGonagall had turned away from James to attack the poor boy.

"I've given them a month's detention each, they were… defiant when I tried addressing the issue," McGonagall continued.

"It is well deserved then," Dumbledore said, not taking his eyes off the trio. "I think Poppy might like some assistance…. Cleaning bedpans and such. You never know, they might learn some helpful healing charms." Sirius groaned and sank in his seat, hearing only bedpans. Peter sobbed thinking only of a month's worth of detention and what his mother was bound to say when she found out. James, however, perked up catching onto Dumbledore's subtle hint. James caught his eye and he winked at him before striding out of the Great Hall. "Broken mirrors always have sharp edges, do try to be careful," Dumbledore said before disappearing through the doors.

James, Sirius, and Peter had no idea how he knew about the mirrors but that odd comment could only mean one thing. They talked it over as they washed their Mandrake leaves in their basin. Remus later explained to them that he had accidently cut himself on one of the edges. Madam Pomfrey got nervous and thought he was turning early so she called Dumbledore in for assistance. Remus was forced to explain that they knew about his condition and was fine with it. In fact, they were enthusiastic about it and were willing to help in any way they could. He assured them that he didn't tell their Headmaster about their ludicrous plans to become animagi, even though Dumbledore would probably put a stop to it faster than either of them could say quidditch.

As for their vow of silence. The next day many of the students tried to make the three of them slip up but failed miserably. Frank did catch them once, whispering to each other in the Gryffindor common room, lisping and gagging like they had something in their mouths, but promised not to say anything. All was going to plan but the real test would be at tomorrow's tutoring session.

* * *

 *****I know it was long. Sorry. It was really fun to write so I may have gotten carried away. Thank you, thank you, thank you! for reading it. I'd love to know what you thought of it so leave a review. (pretty please?)**

 **XOXO*****


	19. All That Matters

**Author's Note:

I'm not spoiling anything but there's a little snippet in here where James and Sirius are forced to write something so I just want to give you a quick reminder:

When James writes its in **Bold** and Sirius is in _**Bold and Italics**_

Please enjoy XO**

* * *

Chapter 19 All That Matters

It was not the first time that, against all odds, Albus Dumbledore was proven right. Monday morning resumed with the usual robust comradery of Hogwarts. The teachers had a spring in their steps, having gotten their classes back to normal after a long year of chaos. All was well. Especially for one Severus Snape, who was under the impression that because James Potter had taken a vow of silence for a month he'd be living like a king. His impression was practically confirmed, when on his way to Arithmancy, he had knocked into James Potter and his pose _and nothing happened._ Not nothing exactly, he was shoved unceremoniously into the wall, but that was it. No hexes were shot at him, no insults or 'jokes' pointed his way, they didn't even look at him. Even when he tried to pin the blame on them. It was as if he were nothing more than an insect that flew into their path and that was perfectly fine by Severus. By Ancient Runes, (a class he was most surprised to see James Potter take,) Severus had all but forgot about his usually loud and cruel classmate.

Lily Evans took her usual seat on his right, between the Slytherin's side of the room and the Gryffindor's. Josie Archer normally sat by her, but she had left shortly after class began in a huff and took an empty seat in between James and a sleeping Remus. Lily began to twist her fingers nervously in her lap. The Slytherins were fine, as long as she had someone with her to balance the playing field. Not that Severus was like them, he just acted differently around them. Lily began to relax when Professor Riggs announced they'd be working in groups for the remainder of the period.

Instead of allowing them to choose their own groups, Professor Riggs chose to 'leave things up to fate.' He had them write their names down on a small square of parchment and throw them into the centre of the room. The parchment would float down to the floor, then right before it would land, it lurched into the air to form a giant paper ball overhead. It swirled above them as they waited for the rest of class to finish. Professor Riggs reached up, caught five pieces, and called out the names. Lily listened intently, bouncing on the edge of her seat, hoping against hope to be placed with her friends. She crossed her fingers she held tightly in her lap as the ball became smaller and smaller then she heard it:

"Lily Evans!" the professor called out. Her breath caught as she threw a nervous glance at Severus. "Severus Snape!" Lily let out a loud squeal as she gave Severus a victorious high five. Neither of them paid any attention to the other names until the professor called out, "and James Potter!" Lily paled and Severus snarled at James who undoubtedly returned the favour. The rest of the class giggled. "I expect you two to behave," the professor warned before continuing to divide the class.

The groups were formed and the class was at work. Mary Mcdonald and Persephone Machault, a Slytherin, was paired with them. Theirs was the only group that was silent in trying to decipher random oddball sentences the professor had given them. They were equipped with one dictionary and all of their notes they had taken throughout the year. James seemed to prefer using the dictionary and had not even taken out his notes.

"Potter, would you mind passing the dictionary," Severus said, curtly and through clenched teeth. Mary, Persephone, and Lily all looked up expectantly. James did not even flinch. It was as if Severus had not spoken. Persephone laughed through her nose and tried to hide it with a cough. Mary hid her smirking face from Lily's glare behind her notes. Severus sighed deeply. "Potter, I won't be a moment, I promise I'll give it back."

James began to hum to himself softly and flipped a page in the dictionary.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake Potter!" Lily exclaimed.

James looked up, feigning surprise.

"Give him the damned book."

James looked around their group, confused.

"Severus. Give Severus the book," Lily ordered, gritting her teeth.

James stood up, looked around the entire classroom before looking back at Lily, now even more confused.

"I don't think he knows who Severus is, Lily," Mary laughed.

"Yes he does, he's been picking on him for three years now! Potter! Give. Him. The book," Lily said, sending James a threatening look.

James looked back at Lily, eyes wide in fear but still he looked confused as to who Severus was.

"It's fine Lily, I'll figure it out. Besides, an idiot like that needs all the help he can get," Severus snarled.

James still looked at Lily as if Severus hadn't spoken.

"Potter," Lily growled.

"James," Persephone said gently.

James looked at her, grinning.

"I think Lily would like to use the dictionary," Persephone told him.

James mouthed an "Oh!" and handed the book to Lily, who took it aggressively from his hands and handed it to Severus. James gestured to Persephone's notes with a pleading look on his face.

"I'm shit at this, you're not gonna get much from my notes," Persephone answered.

James nodded though looked disappointed.

"What happened to yours?"

James pointed at Remus. Seeing Persephone's still confused face, James wadded up a piece of parchment and threw it directly at Remus's head. Remus did not even look in the direction the parchment had come from. He sighed, irritably, got up and walked over.

"What!" he spat.

James grinned at him and gestured to Persephone who repeated her question.

"What happened to James's notes?" Persephone asked, guilty about the angry expression on Remus's face.

"I'm borrowing them because I've missed so much," Remus explained. "James, you can't throw things at me every time you need to answer a question. You know how to write, or, better yet, talk!"

"Maybe you could also tell your _friend_ to stop being such a wanker," Severus spat, his upper lip twitching.

James shoved Remus away before he could respond and acknowledge that Severus had said something. But despite James's efforts, Remus came back.

"That would be about as useful as telling you to wash your hair," Remus told him, smiling politely. Severus's face reddened with anger.

"Remus!" Lily shouted. Persephone and Mary collapsed into giggles and were trying to hide it behind their hands. James smirked proudly up at his friend.

"Lily," Remus nodded, before bowing out and back to his own group.

The class continued with James ignoring Severus completely. Persephone and Mary joined him much to his amusement. Lily, however, was glowing with anger. She stomped off to her next class, not noticing when her friends called to her. Severus headed in the opposite direction, back to the Slytherin dungeon, face red with fury. James and Remus left the class grinning from ear to ear.

Sirius usually waited with Peter at the bottom of the stair after they had Muggle Studies, but today he was waiting with someone else and neither James nor Remus noticed until she was in their face.

"What did you do to Lily!" she growled, with a finger on both of their chests.

"Who - what - Sirius?" Remus stuttered, backing away from the enraged Eilidh Nicnevin. Sirius stepped up between her and Remus and pushed her back slightly. "We didn't do anything to Lily!" Remus defended, James kept hitting his arm trying to get him to say something.

"Then why did she look so upset when she came down here?" Eilidh argued, trying to fight her way around Sirius. "Black, I will hex you!"

"Why do you think it was us?" Remus countered, trying to push James off.

"It's always you," Eilidh accused. Sirius sent her a warning look.

"James stop!" Remus ordered. "What are you even doing here anyway, where's Peter?"

"Sirius and I got kicked out of class. Don't know where Peter is," Eilidh explained, her anger still in her voice but she seemed to have taken Sirius's warning.

"Okay well…." Remus trailed off, feeling bad now that Eilidh had calmed down. "Look, talk to Lily and if she said we did anything, tell us and we'll gladly apologise." James nudged Remus harder than before. Remus glared at him, James mouthed words to Remus, unintelligibly. "Tutoring! After classes, James and Sirius are running a tutoring session. I'll be there too. You two should come by, we'll work it out then."

James sighed in relief. Remus rubbed his now sore arm. Sirius looked to Eilidh nervously.

"Yeah, okay. Thank you, Remus," Eilidh said, calmly. "Sirius we've got to get to McGonagall's, she's been expecting us."

Sirius shrugged and waved goodbye to his friends just as Peter came running up to them. Sirius and Peter had a silent exchange with mostly hand gestures that neither of them seemed to understand except that Peter was irritated.

James, Remus, and Peter walked off to their last class, Care of Magical Creatures. James showed no interest in the phoenix that Professor Kettleburn had brought for them. He tapped his foot and rolled his eyes as Professor Kettleburn droned on about the bird's magical properties. He checked his watch every 10 minutes, then every 5, by dinner it was every 30 seconds. Remus teased him relentlessly about his anticipation, making up for the silent other two. He simply couldn't help it. Mad at him or not, it would mean an actual conversation with Lily Evans, not just a passing, 'stop hexing the first years' or 'if you don't leave Severus alone I will jinx you until your ears sing!' He glanced around the Great Hall, hoping to catch sight of her, but neither she nor her friends were there.

"Relax James, I'm sure she'll be at tutoring," Remus consoled when people started trailing out of the Great Hall and James's shoulders fell in despair.

"Sirius, James! McGonagall wants us," Frank called, pointing over his shoulder to Professor McGonagall. She stood at the front of the room, with her hands folded together watching her students file out.

"I'll see you guys later then," Remus and Peter waved leaving James and Sirius in the Great Hall.

Professor McGonagall briefed them all on what was expected of them. The school rules were to be upheld at all times. Severus, James, and Sirius were reminded that only prefects were allowed to take points or give detentions, they were not real teachers after all. The Head boy and girl would be present to monitor and assist if needed. Lucius Malfoy and Dorcas Meadowes (a Hufflepuff) stood against the far wall, several feet away from each other.

"This is a big job that requires a lot of responsibility, but I know you all can do it," McGonagall finished, looking pointedly at James, Sirius, and Severus. "That being said, if you are in need of any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask."

"We'll be alright, Professor," Frank smiled, throwing an arm around James. Sirius and James smiled encouragingly at her.

"I'm sure you will," she answered. She pulled her wand out and waved it in the air, conjuring two chalkboards and chalk to go with. She handed them to James and Sirius. "Use them well," said McGonagall, almost as a warning, and strode out of the Great Hall. They barely had time to be introduced to the rest of the prefects before students started filing into the Hall. The Head boy and Girl began separating them into groups according to year and subject.

The Head girl, Dorcas Meadowes had short hair, cut just above her shoulders and was so tightly wound into spirals that they bounced when she walked and had a habit of falling into her face. Whenever this happened her hand would shoot out, unexpectedly, to brush the strand away causing anyone within her perimeter to be in danger of her sharp elbows. Despite this the boys liked her. She had helped James work on his dives even though she was on a different quidditch team and she put Severus Snape in more detentions than anyone else in the school. So when she called for them to get to work, they stood at attention, saluted, and marched off to their assigned groups.

James was assigned to a group of first years needing help in transfigurations. James used his chalkboard to write down the necessary spell and manually showed the wand movement for their question. It was simultaneously the easiest and most frustrating thing James had ever done since arriving at Hogwarts. He kept having to remind the students of the standard transfiguration formula: the intended transformation (t) is directly influenced by body weight (a), viciousness (v), wand power (w), concentration (c) and a fifth unknown variable (Z), therefore: t = (w X c) / (v X a) x Z. He ended up charming his chalkboard with the formula written on it to float about the room so he could keep his eyes on the door, lest he missed the expected Lily Evans.

Sirius was having much greater troubles with his second-year charms group. He had set it up so the five of them who needed help with the disarming charm would duel each other. Those who needed help with the freezing charm worked individually with water goblets. And he himself attempted to help the rest with the fire-making charm. This resulted in Frank's ear being engorged by an ill-aimed spell, another student to tap dance uncontrollably, Sirius's potions homework to be frozen, and a great chunk of Cindy Abbott's hair to be set on fire. Sirius acted quickly. He grabbed a goblet from across the table, doused Cindy's hair out, shrunk Frank's ear back to its normal size with a nonverbal spell, and wrestled the dancing student to his feet so Frank could perform the counter charm. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about Sirius's homework. The Great Hall was distracted from this commotion, however, by the doors being slammed open.

"You, James Potter, are the biggest liar who has ever walked the face of this Earth!" Lily Evans yelled striding across the Hall with Eilidh Nicnevin at her heels.

"Honestly, he's the biggest arse too," Eilidh muttered, glaring at James. James looked both shocked and pleased to see the pair of them while Sirius was trying to hide his laughter.

"So you haven't done anything to me, have you?" Lily yelled in James's face. Her face red and her fists clenched. The doors flew open once more, this time revealing Remus Lupin, pale and panting, dragging Peter Pettigrew who was bleeding from the nose.

"Okay, I don't care what we've done, but punching Peter was completely unnecessary! He's never done anything to you lot and probably never will," Remus hollered at Eilidh. Peter shrunk into a chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Or do you actually believe that you haven't done anything? Though I can't believe anyone would actually be that stupid!" Lily yelled over Remus.

"I was aiming for you actually," Eilidh yelled back at Remus.

"What is going on here?" Malfoy yelled, marching over with his wand drawn. Lily and Eilidh fell silent but Remus spoke up. Dorcas scurried behind him, putting herself between them and the rest of the Hall.

" _She_ just p-" he began, pointing a finger at Eilidh.

"I don't mean _you_ , I was talking to Nicnevin," Malfoy interrupted, snarling at Remus.

"He can talk just as well as I can, Malfoy," Eilidh said, crossing her arms. Remus looked surprised by her defence.

"Fine," Malfoy snarled, baring his teeth. "What is going on?" he asked without actually looking at Remus.

"Er, nothing," Remus said, looking at Peter for support. Peter nodded, trying to wipe away the obvious blood oozing from his nose.

"Actually he was yelling at me because I punched his friend," Eilidh said. "It was undeserved, but in my defence, I was aiming for Lupin, so sorry," she said looking at Peter.

Peter shrugged and waved his free hand.

"Thank you," she smiled and turned back to Malfoy. "Feel free to take points or give me a detention, whatever you see fit."

"Why exactly did you punch him?" asked Malfoy, sounding annoyed.

"Told you, I was aiming for Lupin," Eilidh shrugged.

"And why were you aiming for Lupin?" Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"That's beside the point, and none of your business," Eilidh argued.

"Lucius, sorry to interrupt," Severus said, stepping forward, "but Potter is actually the cause of all this."

"No, he's not," Remus said sternly, pronouncing every syllable. Sirius pushed his way through the group and handed his chalkboard to Remus. Remus read it out loud: "Contrary, if Snape wasn't such a big nosed, greasy idiot, none of this would be happening."

Severus drew out his wand and pointed it at Remus. Sirius stepped in front of him, drawing out his own. James jumped to Sirius's side and pointed his wand at Severus. Lucius stood next to Severus and pointed his wand at Sirius.

"Stop it you guys!" Lily yelled, stepping between them. Dorcas waved her wand, putting up an invisible wall to stop anyone else from joining in the fight. James lowered his wand and tried to pull Lily out of the way but she wouldn't budge. "Get off me Potter! You two are supposed to be getting along. You almost got expelled once, and I don't think anybody actually wants to see you gone."

"Well, I for one wouldn't mind," Snape snarled. "I think I'd throw a party."

"Like anyone would come," Eilidh muttered, glaring at both Severus and Lucius.

"Really, you too?" Lily shot, throwing her attention to Eilidh.

"Sorry, Lils, but look who he's standing with," Eilidh said, gesturing with her wand to Malfoy who snarled back to her.

"I'm standing with him too!" Lily yelled, turning back to James and Sirius. "The last thing I want to see is my housemates fighting my best friend and yet you do it constantly."

James and Sirius's eyes remained locked on the opposing two. Their wands were still pointed at them and yet they seemed to waver as Lily yelled.

"Severus please," Lily said, turning to her friend with big pleading eyes. Severus looked at her for a moment then back to James and Sirius then back to Lily. He sighed deeply then dropped his wand and stepped back. James and Sirius followed.

"Right," Lucius said. "I can't give you two any more detentions because you've got 'em for the rest of the year, so I'll take 50 points from both of you."

James and Sirius made a sound of protest but their mouths remained glued shut.

"Lupin, I'll give you a detention this Saturday. Nicnevin, three detentions, for your _mouth_. And Evans-"

"What did she do?" Eilidh yelled. "All she did was stop a fight, which is supposed to be your job."  
"Another detention Nicnevin, and 10 more points from Gryffindor," yelled Malfoy. Eilidh nostrils flared. Lily stepped over and took her hand, leading her away from the Head boy. "Evans, you'll have detention with Lupin!" Malfoy called after them.

Lily stroked Eilidh's arm, trying to calm her down. Eilidh muttered every swear and insult she knew, pointing it towards Malfoy. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. A flush was creeping up her neck. Remus and his friends followed the two, who took a seat against the wall, far from the crowd.

"Thank you, Eilidh, for speaking up for me," Remus said sincerely. Eilidh nodded, glaring at Lucius who was rounding up the prefects. "He's really not worth it."

"He's right," Lily agreed. Eilidh took a deep breath trying to calm herself. James grabbed Sirius's chalkboard and wrote quickly before handing it to Eilidh.

 **you know?**

"Know what?" Eilidh asked, after a quick glance. Sirius erased what he had written and began to scribble. James looked over his shoulder and nodded in agreement.

 ** _About Luscious Malfoul_**

Eilidh smiled slightly at the name he had written. "Uh, yeah. He tried to recruit me," she said shyly and looked down into her lap. Lily rested a hand on her shoulder even though she didn't know what her friend was talking about. James pushed the chalkboard towards her again.

 **you said no right**

"Of course I did!" Eilidh said quickly. She pulled the sleeve of her left arm up as proof. James and Sirius grinned. They pulled their chalkboard back and began to write furiously.

"Oh, I really doubt he's… that!" said Lily, her eyes widening.

"All of us has seen the mark, Lily," Remus said gently. Lily's face fell. She looked back up to Lucius.

"That's why you got so mad," Lily said, turning back to Eilidh. Eilidh nodded and tensed up again, seeming to know what was coming. "Severus isn't like that! He can't know what he is or else he wouldn't be friends with him. He doesn't agree with any of it. Why else would he be friends with me?"

"I don't know, Lily, but Malfoy's not exactly shy about it. And you're the only Muggle-born I've ever seen him with. Besides you, he only hangs out with purebloods," Eilidh argued.

"That's because that's all that's in Slytherin! Do you expect him to not hang out with people in his own house?" Lily argued, defensively.

"Of course not. I just… I don't know, I don't like him. He's just…." Eilidh said, seeming to struggle for the right words.

"Just what, Eilidh?" Lily yelled, her accusation was clear.

"Hey, just because I don't like him, doesn't mean I'm gonna do anything to him. He's your friend and you're mine. That's all that matters," Eilidh said. Lily pursed her lips but said nothing.

"There aren't just purebloods in Slytherin, Lily," Remus argued, gently. Eilidh closed her eyes and clenched her jaw.

"Right, I forgot! Severus is evil and I'm an idiot for hanging out with him!" Lily yelled at Remus causing James and Sirius to finally look away from their board.

"That's not what anybody said, Lily!" Eilidh yelled, turning her body towards Lily.

"Might as well have!" Lily yelled back. Eilidh groaned, threw herself from the wall, and stormed out of the Great Hall. Lily stood as well but stalked off towards Severus, muttering along the way.

"Well, that went well," Remus sighed. Peter chuckled.

James stared after Lily, watching as she whispered furiously with Severus only slightly away from the crowd. Severus was growing increasingly angry at whatever Lily had to say to him. Severus, leaning forward with his teeth bared and snarled something to Lily. Lily drew a breath, got to her feet, and walked out of the Great Hall with her shoulders back and head held high. Sirius nudged James and gave him a confused look. James shrugged and looked to see if either Peter or Remus had noticed. They hadn't. They were huddled around Frank who had got permission from Professor Sprat to bring some fluxweed to help with his tutoring. James looked back to Severus. He was talking to Lucius Malfoy who looked both nervous and concerned. Their conversation ended with a sharp nod from Lucius. Severus turned and caught James watching him. James grinned and Sirius waved. Severus scowled and stalked back to his tutoring group, who were still huddled around a cauldron.

Professor McGonagall came back into the Great Hall led by Dorcas Meadowes. She instructed everyone to return to their dormitories and told the few who remained who were involved in the almost fight that they were to report to the Headmaster's office in the morning before classes began to discuss how things could have been done differently.

* * *

 *****Woohoo almost to chapter 20 we should celebrate! Not sure how but we should.**

 **You know the drill, all rights reserved to the goddess JKR, also to Wikipedia for that formula (ha like I'm some kind of math genius who can think of that by myself)**

 **I also love hearing from you guys, so let me know what you think. Tell me what you think of my OCs, maybe you think Lily over reacted a bit or underreacted, maybe you think Dorcas is a snitch or you just blatantly hate everyone and everything that happened in this chapter. Or not. You can lurk that's cool too.**

 **XO*****


	20. Obligation and Another Memory

Chapter 20 Obligations and another memory

"Morning people are the worst!" groaned Remus, his voice hoarse and tired. He rubbed his temples throwing himself down next to Frank Longbottom in the Great Hall. "James insisted on waking us up an hour early so we wouldn't miss breakfast today." Frank looked around Remus and saw James dragging Sirius by the sleeve of his school robes and Peter by his collar. "He's so damn talkative in the morning. It's unnatural."

"Just remind him that he promised the whole school he'd stay silent for a month," Frank advised, hiding a laugh behind his tea cup.

"Oh, I have, but because I wasn't there he technically didn't promise me. James Potter, King of Loopholes!" Remus announced as James finally reached them. He pushed Sirius and Peter into their seat and gave Remus a dramatic bow before finding his.

"I hate to have to tell you this," Frank began, looking apologetically at Remus. Sirius had rested his head on the table and Peter was using his back as a pillow. Remus's shoulders fell, sensing dreadful news. James's head snapped away from the pastries and back to Frank. "I got there before you - with Snape and Malfoy - and… well… Dumbledore's cancelled the meeting. Said something's urgent's happened that needed his immediate attention. He only rescheduled with Malfoy." Remus let out a slow sigh as Sirius groaned loudly and with so much force Peter's head slipped off his back. James locked eyes with Remus, trying to get him to ask the right questions.

"I have no idea what you're trying to say," said Remus, his irritation surfacing again.

"I don't know what happened, if that's what it is," Frank shrugged, taking a bite out of his sausage.

"It's probably nothing to do with the school then. He's a prefect James, he would have told him," Remus concluded.

"I thought so too, but he didn't have a cloak on and it's still pretty cold outside," Frank added. Remus, James, and Frank exchanged suspicious looks. Sirius and Peter didn't seem at all interested in what Frank had declared, they had fallen back to sleep on their arms.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Remus said, waving off the issue. James narrowed his eyes at him. Frank shrugged and returned to his meal. Remus pushed Sirius into Peter, waking them both. "Hurry up and eat," he ordered without explanation but, they seemed to catch on that he was planning something.

James and Peter ate quickly as Remus suggested, but Sirius, instead of shoving food down his throat, stuffed his pockets with everything on the table that was still wrapped and carried a plate piled high with food into their dormitory. They spread out in the centre of their dormitory with Peter's map between them.

"You are not writing on the map! Do you know how hard I worked it getting it just right? How many maps I went through originally because you guys kept writing notes on it?" Peter yelled, lisping and choking a bit on the extra saliva the Mandrake leaf in his mouth produced.

"The name is supposed to disappear after the Homunculous Charm is performed," Remus said calmly, hoping it would rub off on Peter.

"On the off chance, you do it right! I'd rather not have 'Albus Dumbledore' scrawled across my map while I'm trying to get to class!" Peter argued, clutching the map to his chest.

"I told you, Anthony McKinnon, a very skilled seventh year, taught me what he knew about the charm last night. Have a little faith, please," Remus smiled, he moved to touch Peter's shoulder but he backed away still clutching his map.

Sirius and James sat on the floor, watching the ordeal while sharing what was left of Sirius's breakfast. They had never seen Peter even remotely close to being this angry and found it rather entertaining to watch but noticing Remus's increasing frustration, they thought it best to intercede before things got out of hand.

"Peter, if it doesn't work then all three of us, will make you a new one - a completed one," James offered. Peter scowled at him for his lack of support.

"Do you have any of the ones you made before?" Sirius suggested. Peter shook his head. Sirius slumped his shoulders and took a moment to think.

"What if Sirius performed the spell? He the best out of the four of us at charms," Remus said.

"It's too advanced," Peter argued.

"Okay, what about this," Sirius stood and crossed over to his desk pulling out four pieces of parchment and quills to go with. "Each of us will quickly draw our dormitory and try the charm, to see if any of us can do it. If we can't, then we'll figure out a different way." Peter eyed the parchment he held out for him to take, looked back to the map clutched to his chest and sighed in defeat.

"You owe me a new map," he muttered, taking the quill.

Each of them drew a rough outline of their dorm room, marking where their beds, trunks, and desks were.

"So we just say 'hominum locus' as we wave our wands counterclockwise over the parchment," Remus summarised after going over what Anthony McKinnon taught him the night before. "And make sure you cover the whole parchment!" James and Sirius nodded determinedly while Peter sulkily attempted the spell. It took a few times, James even tossed his drawing away and made a new one, but in the end, Sirius finished first. He showed the other three the black dot labelled _**Sirius Black**_. James held the paper as Sirius moved about the room, proving that it could pinpoint his location.

"What if it's just a fluke, you know beginner's luck?" Peter argued, weakly.

"I'll try it again. James give me yours." Sirius held out his hand and James gave him the parchment. He waved his wand slowly around the drawn out room, carefully pronouncing the incantation around the leaf in his mouth. James's dot appeared where he stood. The three of them looked up at Peter expectantly.

"It didn't disappear, you said it'd disappear if it worked!" Peter argued.

"How would it work if it didn't show us where he was?" James said irritably.

"It got smaller. James's handwriting is huge and now look how small it is!" Remus said feebly.

"Peter, mate, just let us do it! We'll find a way to erase it when we're through," Sirius told him.

"Having the exact location of the Headmaster at all times-" James began.

"James not now," Sirius warned, taking the map from Peter's reluctantly outstretched hand. "We'll make it up to you Pete," he said. He spread the parchment out across the floor, scribbled Albus Dumbledore in the centre, and performed the spell. They all watched nervously as his name faded with Sirius's wand movements. When he was finished Sirius pulled back and scanned the parchment starting at the astronomy tower and worked his way down.

"There!" James announced, pointing to the dot in the middle of the square off the first floor. "Where is that, Pete?"

Peter looked, taking in the surrounding landmarks he had noted around each of the castle's rooms.

"The hospital wing," he said finally in a tone of surprise.

"Merlin, we've really gotta finish this map I thought it was the potion's storeroom," James muttered.

"Does that mean there's been another attack?" Peter said nervously.

"Or he's sick. He is old," Remus offered.

"Obviously there's only one way to find out," James said, getting to his feet.

"Pomfrey's not gonna let us in James, especially if Dumbledore's sick," Sirius argued. James turned away from the door, his thumb tracing his bottom lip.

"Alright. Remus, you're feeling dizzy still from the last transformation and we came with you because we wanted to make sure you didn't pass out," James said.

"All three of you?" Remus questioned, arching his brow.

"No nose goes!" Peter yelled, his finger pressing onto the tip of his nose.

"All two of us, so we can carry you in case you pass out," James said motioning to Sirius.

"I don't wanna be left here alone!" Peter said.

"But no nose goes," James argued.

"Guys, if we don't hurry we might miss our chance," Sirius said.

James nodded sharply and lead the way out of the dormitory. They (including Peter) made their way to the hospital wing. They stopped outside the door so they could spin Remus around a few times to make their story more convincing. They creaked open the door to peer inside. Albus Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, and a young witch of an unknown identity were huddled together talking in hushed tones. Sirius pulled his friends out of the doorway and into a neighbouring corridor as quickly as humanly possible. He leant up against the wall so a shadow was cast over him but he could still see the doors to the Hospital wing.

"What is it?" James whispered to his very shaken friend.

"I recognised that woman," Sirius whispered back, his eyes still glued to the door. His friends waited for him to continue.

"As whom?" Remus pressed. Sirius looked quickly at him then back to the door.

"I don't remember," he answered.

A few minutes later the woman showed. Sirius took in her features carefully, hoping to find some place for her in his memories. She had chestnut coloured hair that fell to her chest, her brow was set in a determined scowl as her eyes scanned the path ahead of her seeming to anticipate an attack. She stopped just before their corridor and bent to fix her shoe, a small rose was tattooed along her dainty wrist. She stood, full of pride, shook her hair from her shoulders and continued her march towards the entrance hall.

"She kinda looks familiar now too," James said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, just picture her shorter, with short hair and an angry expression," Remus said. Remus ignored his friends' questions and entered the Hospital Wing.

"What are you four doing here?" Dumbledore asked before Madam Pomfrey could speak.

"We're just here to visit Nicnevin," Remus said, nodding to the bed enclosed by curtains.

"Poppy, is she ready for visitors?" Dumbledore asked the nurse.

"I suppose if you're quick. You have classes soon anyway," Madam Pomfrey answered before she muttered her way to her office.

"I'm sure you'd like to see Miss Evans as well?" Dumbledore asked.

"What happened to them, Professor?" Remus asked, trying to seem like he already knew she was there.

"If you find out I implore you to let me know," Dumbledore replied, before making his way out of the Hospital wing. "Please do make your visit a quick one, Miss Nicnevin has been under a lot of strain."

James paced around the room looking for Lily, still finding no signs of her. Remus, Peter, and Sirius stared at the enclosed bed immobilised. For some reason, they were overcome with extreme nervousness.

"Potter?" Lily's voice came from behind them. James, startled by this, tripped over one of the bed's frame and crashed into a tray carrying various tools often seen in hospital wings. He shot back up to his feet and leant casually against the offending bed frame.

James nodded his head casually as he ran a hand through his hair. His friends did their best to stifle their laughter as a soft groan issued from the only occupied bed.

"Oh, Eilidh's got a headache," Lily said softly, looking concerned at her hidden friend.

"Why are you here?" Remus asked.

"Oh, apparently I've been obliviated," Lily said, waving her hand as if she had nothing more than a head cold.

"I'm sorry, what?" James questioned, momentarily forgetting his vow. He clamped his hand over his mouth his eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah, I can't remember anything that happened yesterday. Except for breakfast, but still," answered Lily, "and apparently Eilidh doesn't know who did it or why so…."

"And this doesn't worry you at all?" Remus asked.

"I was practically hysterical earlier," Lily laughed, "but they gave me the Draught of Peace and I've never felt better. Granted it's not as potent as yours Black, but still… I feel great! People worry too much, ya know." Lily skipped over and opened the curtains surrounding her friend's bed. "Eilidh," she sang softly. Eilidh stirred and blinked her eyes open. She squinted from the light and rested a hand on her head. "We've got visitors. Boy visitors," she whispered and pointed over her shoulder to the foursome.

"Lily, if you don't stop this god-awful cheeriness I'm going to send you to the dementors," Eilidh threatened, halfheartedly.

"Aw, she gets grumpy when she's in pain," Lily told the boys. Peter rolled his eyes remembering his previously broken nose.

"How do you feel?" Remus asked.

"Like my head's been split open, and my brain beaten, then sewn back together only for it to implode. And my body feels like I've been sent through a meat grinder," Eilidh answered, bitterly. Remus chuckled and nodded his head. "Any chance you're not going to ask me questions about what happened?"

"Any chance you've got something to tell us that you didn't tell Dumbledore?" Remus countered. Eilidh sighed and glanced around the room, noticing that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere in sight. "Lily, love, didn't you want to ask James exactly what he meant by saying 'I love you' the other day?"

"Oh, right," Lily blushed. James groaned. Peter, Sirius, and Remus smirked.

"Remember your vow, James," Remus warned as Lily lead him to the opposite end of the room, well out of earshot. Peter closed the curtains again and Sirius and Remus sat at the foot of her bed, waiting expectantly.

"Remember yesterday at tutoring when you asked me if I knew about, you - know - what?" Eilidh started after Peter took the chair at her bedside. They nodded in response. "And Lily was there and she asked if the reason why I got so mad about Severus is because… he was there with him?" The nodded again. "Well, he attacked me while I was on my way back to the dormitories. I visited my brother last night. He's in Ravenclaw. Then somewhere along the fourth and fifth floors, he showed up and threatened me to stay quiet, he doesn't want me telling anyone that I know what he is. I honestly don't know what happened to Lily. Maybe it was Severus because he would never actually hurt her, and this was his way of keeping her quiet, but I don't think they'd leave something so important to a third year. They still need to keep their secret ya know, cause not everyone believes that they exist. So it was probably another seventh year, and they only obliviated her because she's friends with Severus," Eilidh explained, in a low rushed voice. She took a moment to catch her breath in the end. Remus looked thoughtful. Peter looked scared. Sirius looked livid.

"Malfoy attacked you to keep you quiet. And someone obliviated Lily to keep her in the dark," Remus clarified. Eilidh nodded. "How did he attack you?"

Eilidh's face drained of all remaining colour. He eyes flicked to the already livid Sirius, to Peter looking both concerned and frightened, and back to Remus whose face was determinedly blank.

Eilidh shook her head and clenched her jaw as if she were scared the words might just fall out of her mouth.

"Eilidh," Remus reached for her hand, and locked her eyes with his, "you can trust us. We only want to help."

"You guys are only going to get yourselves hurt," Eilidh shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. She blinked them away and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"We already have enough information for us to do something," Remus argued.

"Damned vigilantes," Eilidh scoffed. She ran her fingers through her hair and swallowed the lump in her throat. "He used the Cruciatus Curse on me," Eilidh said, not meeting any of their eyes. Sirius jumped to his feet, his wand already clutched in his hand and pushed his way out of the curtains.

"Sirius! Sirius!" Remus called, running after him. He pulled him back inside the curtains and held him there by the arm. "Eilidh, Sirius, I'm sure, has many questions for you. So, if you don't mind, will you allow him to break his vow of silence momentarily." Eilidh nodded, looking nervously at the steaming boy. "Thank you. Also, Sirius has developed a speech impediment, that causes him to lisp. Let's just say it's because… we've enlarged his tongue, for experimental sake." Eilidh nodded again, ignoring the obvious lie, and waited for Sirius to speak. Sirius took a deep breath, wrenched his arm free of Remus's grip, and placed himself back onto Eilidh's anger that flared inside the boy's steely gazed quickened Eilidh's pulse, but she showed no signs of fear nor discomfort. She held the eye contact easily as she waited for his questions.

"Why didn't you tell Dumbledore?" Sirius asked. There wasn't a lisp, but his voice was thick like he held something in his mouth. He had skillfully kept his anger out of his voice.

"Would you have?" Eilidh countered. Sirius eyed her, surprised by her easy tone. Excitement blazed in her eyes and this confused him more than anything.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sirius asked.

"He used the Cruciatus Curse, Sirius. Then he threatened my family. Call me a coward, but that was enough for me to stay silent," Eilidh answered fiercely, seeming to dare any of them to actually call her a coward.

"Dumbledore would protect them," Remus said.

"Dumbledore is only a man," Eilidh answered, finally tearing her eyes away from Sirius.

"Are you planning on doing anything?" asked Sirius.

"No," Eilidh answered, staring blankly ahead, "it's not my war."

"Maybe not but they attacked Lily too, and it is her war," Sirius argued.

"Lily knows how to defend herself," Eilidh replied, blankly.

"She's your friend," Remus accused.

"And they're my family," Eilidh said, tears in her eyes again. This time she didn't blink them away, she held them in, burning her eyes until they blurred her vision and let them spill down her cheeks. She watched Lily staring intently at a piece of parchment as James watched her nervously, only noticing the owl hovering over his head with a large, rectangular parcel in its talons at the last minute. The owl dropped the parcel and James caught it before it hit Lily's head.

"Come on guys," Sirius said, making his way towards James without a backwards glance towards Eilidh. Peter smiled to Eilidh before following Sirius out. Remus paused behind Peter and looked back to her.

"Get well soon, Eilidh," he whispered and pulled the curtains closed behind her.

"Oh, no," James groaned, breaking his vow again.

"What is it?" Remus asked. James held up the parcel and pointed to the return address. "Ah, mummy's revenge," Remus laughed. James glared before ripping the brown paper off the box.

"What'd he do to his mum?" Lily asked, looking between Remus and James.

"Can't say, it's against the rules," Remus said vaguely. James's hands froze around the box. "Just be glad it's not a howler and you're not in the Great Hall," Remus said, intending to comfort.

James grimaced, looked at his friends then at Lily, and then tore the lid off of the box. They all looked in. The box contained something pink and fluffy, with a white pompom attached to it.

"What on Earth?" Remus asked, reaching to take hold of the pink catastrophe. James pushed his hand away and sprang to his feet holding the box out of everyone's reach.

"James we just want to see it," Lily pleaded, trying to hide her grin.

"We won't laugh," Remus offered. James rolled his eyes. "Okay, we probably will."

"But we're already laughing, so it makes no difference," Lily added. James scowled at the pair of them. "Please, James. Please, please, please, pleeeaaasseee."

James took a deep and bitter breath before placing the box onto the bed between them. Remus reached out once more only for James to push him away again. James's hand hovered nervously over the pink fabric. He reached down and clutched the fabric. He had to stand to hold it at its full height. It was a giant pink and white rabbit costume. Its ears hung limp, its tips grazing the floor. Thick heavy rabbit feet hung along the torso. They stared in silence for a moment taking in the pink nightmare before them. Then they all burst out laughing - all except James who stared mouth open and barely blinking.

"There's a note," Lily said, giggling still. James dropped the costume to the floor and took the paper from Lily's outstretched hand. Remus moved to read the note out loud over James's shoulder.

 **Happy Easter Jamie.**

 **I expect to see pictures of you in this with your friends.**

 **Your father says hello and that he hopes you're doing well in school.**

 **Tell Remus and Sirius I said hello and Peter that I hope to meet him during the summer holiday.**

 **All my love,**

 **'Mother'**

 **P.S. If I don't get the pictures you really will be grounded.** FOr **. Life**.

"Oh! I can take the pictures for you!" Lily laughed.

"No," James said, firmly, gathering up the pink lump and stuffing it back into the box.

"Why not? She said she wanted a picture of you with all of your friends, how are you supposed to take the picture?" Lily argued. James glared and seemed to struggle with keeping his words in. He huffed and turned to leave, waiting for his friends by the door.

"I suppose we'll have to take more than one," Remus winked at Lily. "This is so going on the wall!" James growled and marched out of the hospital wing. "See you in first, Lily." Remus waved ducking out behind his friends.

"She called me James, twisss!" James announced after he ran back to his dormitory with his friends trailing behind.

"I'm sorry how many times did she call you James?" Remus asked, smirking.

"Shut up! Two times! She only ever calls me Potter and now she's called me James, two times. And she was practically affectionate," James said excitedly, packing his rucksack with the books he needed for his first few classes. "It's only up from here."

"I don't know, she's seen your bunny costume. The affection might have been out of pity," Remus teased.

"It's a rabbit Lupin, a rabbit. Bunnies are for babies," James said, clinging to what was left of his dignity.

"The bunny costume would look excellent out in nature! It'll make it look more realistic," Sirius smirked.

"The rabbit costume is not to leave this dorm room, nor is anybody going to hear about it!" James said, sending a threatening look to all three of them.

"The ginger already saw it!" laughed Peter.

"Anyway! What did you find out from what's her name?" James digressed.

"That Malfoy was the one that attacked her because she told Lily he was a Death Eater but she doesn't know who attacked Lily only that they're trying to keep her in the dark," Remus explained. James nodded and began pacing around the room.

"Okay, so we'll have to find some way to start listening to their conversations. And of course make some plan against Malfoy," James said.

"We're not doing anything to Malfoy," Sirius said. James spun around to face him, Peter and Remus were already staring at him. "She doesn't want us too. He's family," Sirius explained not caring about the bitterness in his voice. He turned away from his friends and back to his books.

"I don't think that's what she meant Sirius," said Remus gently.

"Yeah, it was," Sirius muttered. He swung his rucksack over his shoulder and made his move to leave but he stopped, noticing that his friends were still staring at him. "Look we have plenty of reason to get him back, I just want it to be clear that we're not doing it for Nicnevin." And with that, he left, not caring if his friends followed or not.

* * *

 *****Thank you, Samthethespian, for your review. I hope I didn't fail to meet your expectations. And I'm sorry for not getting back to you right away I just didn't want to spoil anything ;)**

 **To the rest of you, thanks for reading it! I hope you enjoyed. Tell me what you think in the review box down below. (Especially if I got the incantation wrong for the homunculus charm.) Lurking is always welcome and encouraged because seriously thanks for reading!**

 **JKR owns our souls and you know it.**

 **XO*****


	21. Debut et Fin

Chapter 21 Debute et Fin

 _The end of April 1974_

Lily Evans and James Potter were friends.

They were actually friends, not just friendly and courteous. Most people assumed it was because James could not talk and muck everything up. Lily and her friends (her Gryffindor friends) were often seen with our Marauders in the last few weeks of April. They played gobstones in the common room. They ate lunch together in the Great Hall. They were seen in The Three Broomsticks during April's Hogsmeade weekend. Lily beat James in a race on broomsticks. Josie Archer taught Remus Lupin how to lure Bowtruckles. Mary Macdonald helped Peter Pettigrew get over his fear of the giant squid in The Black Lake. And Eilidh Nicnevin and Sirius Black were not talking to each other. In fact, they refused to even look at each other. When either was confronted on this issue they blamed the other. In reality, Sirius was the one who officially started it.

Lily had invited James and his friends to join the girls in a night game of Quidditch. As surprised as James was that Lily was sneaking out of the castle after hours _and_ only to play a Quidditch game, he happily accepted. He even showed Lily a secret passage out of the castle that led directly to the Quidditch field. Eilidh had offered to let Sirius borrow her broom (he had not yet got his back from his mother) while she rode her brother's. Sirius simply strode past without giving any acknowledgement that she had spoken. It was fine by her. If Sirius did not want to talk to her, she would not force him to. Sirius simply could not stand conversing with someone who had protected the man who attacked her and threatened her and then calls him family. So they didn't talk and they rarely looked, and if one was to catch the other's eye it was only to quickly scowl without the other's noticing.

Lucius Malfoy had lost his hair.

It was all anyone could talk about and it seemed to have a major impact on his ego. He was usually seen strutting around Hogwarts with his head held high, Narcissa on his arm and his 'friends' following closely behind. Now he walked quickly, hunched over, and with the hood of his robes held tightly around his head.

It had happened slowly. Lucius first noticed it at breakfast one day. He had casually raked his fingers through his hair and chunks of it had fallen out. He hid it from Narcissa and snuck off to the Hospital Wing under the excuse of Head Boy duties at the first chance he got in hopes that the nurse would be able to provide a remedy. (She could find none.) Too ashamed to actually approach his Potions professor with this issue, Snape was the next best thing. They tried for hours, attempting every counter curse and every potion they could think of, but nothing worked. In fact, it seemed to have only sped up the process. Snape seemed sure that this was "Potter's work" but Lucius was not convinced. James Potter seemed more inclined to use direct offences, leaving no room to wonder who it had come from.

By dinner, he was completely bald.

An owl, one of the school owls Lucius noted, swooped in and dropped a bulky letter onto his plate. The envelope only had his name written across it in all caps. He knew no one who wrote like this. Prompted by his wife, he opened the envelope. As soon as he did, sparkling dust of green and gold shot out over head and formed the words:

COURTESY OF YOUR MUDBLOOD PEERS

and a phial rolled out of the envelope Lucius had dropped in surprise labelled MINOXIDIL, REGROW YOUR HAIR IN SECONDS. Lucius, in order to keep his pride intact, slammed the phial down breaking the glass and spilling the liquid over Avery's lap. As a result, his leg hair began to grow rapidly. Avery was sent to Professor Slughorn's office and Lucius Malfoy remained bald.

James Potter had been attacked by an unknown source.

It was during the free period between their third and fourth classes. James and Sirius were on their way to the Hospital Wing to fulfil the detentions McGonagall had given them the day of the food fight when out of nowhere there was a flash of light and James hair began to fall out in small clusters as though someone was trying to scalp him. If someone really was trying to scalp him, they were unsuccessful. James's hair remained a messy nest atop his head with only random bits of skin protruding through. It did nothing more than christening him "patches" by his three closest friends.

 _The end of May 1974_

Their last day of their month of silence was an eventful one. It was the first day of final exams at Hogwarts, a full moon, and James Potter's birthday. The students of Hogwarts were expecting something to go amiss on such a legendary day. However, the usual mischief makers were unusually compliant and seemed to be extending their vow of silence.

"They're waiting until the very hour their vow started," explained Lily Evans, whispering to a very interested Ravenclaw by the name of Colin Aubrey during the Herbology exam, "so they can avoid any technicalities with people who placed bets against them. They're very appalled that there were people who thought they couldn't do it."

It was very well that they had decided to wait because Severus Snape seemed to be even more insufferable than usual that day. If they hadn't James would not have been able to hold his tongue during their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam.

They were facing boggarts. James was the first to volunteer. His worst fear being his friends and family dead, it was a rather simple task to finish especially when his real friends were all beside him and his parents had written to him mere hours before now, still, it was a gruesome sight. He yelled out "Ridiculous," (the Mandrake leaf was now stuck to his tongue so efficiently he had no trouble pronouncing the word) and Remus's corpse transformed into a dancing marionette - that may have looked a bit like Snape. He smiled proudly at his professor and took the indicated seat.

Rosier was next. His boggart transformed into a small girl with dark hair and eyes. She did nothing but stare at Rosier, but still, when he raised his wand it shook a bit until the boggart changed into a smiling clown. The Slytherin girl behind him seemed much more afraid of the clown than anything else so it stayed, and began to laugh maniacally, stalking closer to the girl as it twitched its fingers and cocked its head. Most of the crowd grew weary as the girl failed to perform the spell, Severus, however, laughed loudly from his place in the back of the room.

"It's alright, Emma. Just try it one more time," Professor Radagast soothed, his eyes glued to the girl rather than the boggart. Emma nodded and gulped. She looked the clown directly in the eye and muttered "ridiculous" and the clown collapsed to the ground and turned into a giant bouncing spring. The crowd laughed and clapped loudly.

"Very well done, Emma," the professor smiled before calling up the next student. "Persephone Machault!"

Persephone grinned at Emma, then the professor, then nervously looked back to the spring that was bouncing ominously in the corner of the room. It lurched towards her, falling into thousands of crawling bugs as it did. Cockroaches, spiders, beetles and the likes were scuttling for her. Several people screamed, Persephone included. Severus laughed again. She ran and jumped onto a desk, her wand pointed at the leading centipede, and screeched, "ridiculous!" and it turned into a large snake.

Josie Archer, who had previously rolled her eyes at Persephone's bugs, screamed. The snake slithered for her and the crowd dispersed. Josie, still screaming, backed up against the door and was fumbling for the door handle. The snake only grew larger with her fear and was now gleaming over Josie's head, it's forked tongue licking the air about her. The professor called for her to try the spell as he ran to her aid, but Eilidh Nicnevin got their first. She jumped in front of her cowering friend and the boggart whirled about, trying to decide what shape to take on. It decided on a little girl, in a pink frilly dress and pigtails. The boggart began to skip around her singing in a plummy voice "You're a witch! You're a witch!" Josie hid her tear stained face behind Eilidh and clutched her hand. Eilidh raised her wand, almost lazily, and said in a soft voice, "ridiculous" and the bogart rolled across the room, transforming into a stoat. The girls swooned as it's long body jumped around the room searching for somebody's fear to latch onto. It stopped in front of Peter.

Peter eyed it determinedly, already knowing what it would turn into. The boggart, however, seemed confused.

"You've got this, Peter," Mary called. The rest of the class applauded encouragingly. Sirius backed up, hoping to speed the process along. The stoat's nose began to twitch and its ears flicked then it started to grow and morph into a form Sirius recognised to be Peter's mother with a switch.

"Stupid, useless boy!" the boggart yelled, raising the switch above her head, ready to strike. The class fell silent, except for Severus who snorted loudly. Before the switch could be brought down, Peter hollered "ridiculous!" and the bogart fell into a colourful liquidy goop, looking like a melted popsicle. Peter looked around at the confused faces of his classmates and smiled. He stepped onto the sticky puddle and slipped, falling onto his backside. The class roared with laughter. The bogart rose out from under Peter and swirled above their heads.

"Students who have already had their turn, find a seat on the right side of the room!" Professor Radagast called. "Everyone else, line up and get ready!"

The class scurried to the centre of the room, pushing their way to the front of the line. Severus and Sirius were fighting for the spot at the end of the line. They were too preoccupied to watch as the rest of the class went through their boggart.

Mary's boggart turned into a mummy. Avery's was, much to most of the class's amusement, the pope. Mulciber was a wendigo. Lily had by far scared the most people when her boggart turned into a dementor. The bell rang loudly as a Slytherin named Philip Montegrew turned his boggart into an odd looking purple cartoon character. Severus jumped at the noise. Sirius laughed at him. Marlene McKinnon stood in front of them shaking her head as she watched the rest of the class leave.

"I've got Astronomy next, Sev," Lily said, apologetically as she edged towards the door.

"It's fine," Severus responded, his eyes glued on Sirius. Lily smiled at them both before skipping out of class. James and Peter remained in their seats. Professor Radagast magically forced the boggart back into the trunk he originally had it in.

"Mr Snape, Mr Black, and Miss McKinnon are you at liberty to stay a bit longer to take the test?" Professor Radagast asked, moving to pick up a few stray quills. The three gave their affirmation. "Mr Potter and Mr Pettigrew, are you waiting for something?" James shook his head and Peter pointed to Sirius. Already used to their means of communications the professor nodded knowingly. "Sirius, perhaps you should go first then?"

"I'd rather go last if you don't mind," Sirius said politely, though his irritation with the boy behind him seeped through his voice.

"I thought you weren't talking, Black? Too good to keep your promises?" Severus remarked, haughtily. Forgetting his wand, Sirius lunged at him with his fist raised. Marlene stepped between them and held them apart at arm's length. James was on his feet, ready to assist.

"I'll go first, Professor," Marlene said sweetly, though she pushed Sirius so hard he fell back into a desk behind him. "It'll give these gits a chance to work it out."

Professor Radagast nodded. He opened the trunk and stood back to allow the boggart to get a read on Marlene. He stepped over to where Sirius was now sitting and Severus stood glowering at him.

"What's going on with you two? Usually, you two are fighting over who goes first, not last," the professor whispered to allow Marlene enough focus to concur the vampire shaped bogart.

"Professor, I'm sorry, but isn't our worst fear kind of a private matter," Sirius replied, cautiously. The professor seemed taken aback by this. Neither of them was particularly shy. He thought back to the beginning of this term when he originally introduced the boggarts to the class. Neither of them had faced the boggart then.

"If you're afraid-" Radagast began.

"I'm not afraid!" the boys yelled together, starting both him and the rest of the room's inhabitants. They glared at each other, seeming to be repulsed that they had said the same thing at the same time.

"Very well," Radagast said sternly, not liking the fact that he had just been yelled at. "We'll have to schedule something during your free period. You may go." Severus fled as quickly as his spindly legs could manage. Sirius thanked the professor and stood by the door waiting for his friends. "Excellent job Marlene! Full marks!" Sirius and his friends could hear the professor praising Marlene all the way down the now empty corridor.

"What is your boggart anyway, Sirius?" James inquired casually. Sirius sighed heavily, knowing that James would take an interest.

"He doesn't know, does he? He never got a chance at the beginning of term," Peter answered.

"Actually, I do know," Sirius said, looking determinedly ahead. "Last year, my dad's father died and we went to his house to square things and there was a boggart there…."

"So, what was it?" James pressed after a moment's pause. Sirius bit his lip nervously and took a deep breath.

"You guys. All three of you. Telling me that I was just like my family and stuff," Sirius shrugged as if it were no big deal but the confession weighed on him. He eyed James out of the corner of his eye. James looked thoughtful. Peter twitched his nose before looking at Sirius. He was about to say something when they rounded a corner but a patronising voice cut him off.

"How very sentimental of you, Black." Severus Snape sat on a bench beside a window, his notes in his hand and his rucksack between his legs. He looked smugly up at the trio. "Your family is full of great witches and wizards so I wouldn't fear turning out like them if I were you." Sirius felt his heart rise to his throat. This was exactly why he had wanted to go last.

"Oh, yeah and what's your boggart, Snivellus? Soap?" James countered, stuffing his hand into the pocket of his robes and grasping his wand tightly.

"No, actually, it's spending another year with you," Severus snarled.

"Aw, afraid I'll make you vomit slugs again?" James pouted his lower lip in mocked sympathy.

"No! I'm afraid you're stupid will rub off on me," Severus turned. Leaning against the armrest of the bench he flicked his notes straight.

"Watch it Snivellus! Evans isn't here to save your arse this time," Sirius growled over James's mocking laughter.

"I don't need Lily to save me! I can take both of you, right here, right now!" Severus threw his notes back to his bag and ripped out his wand.

"Oh, look, Sirius, sweet little Snivellus is mad that a muggle born is better at magic than he is," James cooed.

"Have something against muggle borns Snivellus?" Peter asked, threateningly as he whipped out his wand.

"Conjunctivito!" Severus yelled before Peter got a chance to attack. Peter sank to his knees, palming his eyes, as he cried out in pain. Sirius crouched down, instinctively, to see if Peter was okay.

"Expelliarmus!" James yelled before Severus could turn on one of them.

"What'd you do to him?" Sirius yelled, his wand in his face. He grabbed Severus's arm, stopping him from driving for his wand.

"It's called the Conjunctivitis curse, but of course I could hardly expect an imbecile like you to know that," Severus snarled. He wrenched his arm free of Sirius's grip and dived for his wand next to a row of knights.

"Oppungo!" Sirius yelled, pointing to one of the knights. The knight swung its mace, missing Severus by inches only because he flung himself out of its way. The knight stepped off its pedestal and Severus scurried back. Reaching the wall, he pointed his wand and yelled the only thing he could come up with: "Confingo!" The knight exploded, causing many of its metal pieces to fly through the air, hitting James on his head and Sirius on his back. Peter had ducked for cover behind a pillar.

Peeves came swooping in, yelling "Fire in the corridor! Fire in the corridor!", leading Mr Filch as several of the surrounding classrooms finally opened. Several small fires had started on the corridors many wooden decorative pieces.

"Aguamenti," James said and water shot out of his wand, dousing the fires and saving many of the pieces.

"What is going on here?" Professor Flitwick squeaked, shooing his class back inside the room. "Continue working on your essays, I'll be back in a moment!"

"It was their fault!" Severus yelled, point at James and Sirius. Filch grabbed Peter and forced him to stand. Peter whimpered, his eyes swollen shut.

"I bet this one had something to do with it too!"

"Honestly, I don't know how they're not expelled!"

"That's not true! Snape shot first!"

"Enough!" Flitwick yelled with so much force he almost toppled over. They were so startled even Peeves fell silent. "Severus, did you fire first?" Flitwick asked calmly.

"It was their fault! If they hadn't-"

"Enough. Did you fire first?" asked Flitwick sternly.

"W - yes but -"

"Detention, Mr Snape, this Saturday, and twenty points from Slytherin. We do not tolerate duelling at Hogwarts, especially when you are to be taking exams. Now off with you," Professor Flitwick ordered. Severus scoffed and sent a hateful look towards the professor. He gathered his things and stalked off towards his next exam. "Mr Potter and Mr Black I'll take 20 points as well from Gryffindor for your undoubtful hand in this. Please take Mr Pettigrew to the Hospital Wing and then go straight to class."

"Yes, Professor," James and Sirius said, prying their friend from Filch's still grasping fingers.

It was unfortunate for Severus that his next class happened to be on the same path to the Hospital Wing. Had it not been, James would not have jinxed him and he would not have leeks spilling out of his ears.

 _The beginning of June 1974_

Lily Evans and James Potter were no longer friends.

Lily had heard the news of their duel first from Severus. Directly after she returned to her cold and distant ways, seeming to dislike him even more now than ever before. This was much easier for Eilidh and Sirius to continue their silent treatment for each other. Mary Macdonald and Josie Archer, however, remained secret friends of the four.

Ravenclaw won both the Quidditch Cup and the House Championship.

Slytherin had lost the match by a fraction of a point. It was the most intense game Hogwarts had seen yet. They very proudly ate their last meal under blue and bronze decorations.

The Marauders pranked the entire staff.

On their last night of school, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, snuck out of their dormitory in the middle of the night. They stole one of the boats used to bring the first years across The Black Lake and sailed to the middle of it. They lit a wick and jumped into the lake before the fireworks set off into the sky.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Colourful dragons, pygmy puffs, hippogriffs and other magical creatures littered the sky, waking the entire castle. They hid, sniggering in the bush along the lake's edge, watching as their professor's tried, to no avail, to put an end to their fireworks show. An hour past before the finally began. Thousands of fireworks went off at once. A large red and orange Phoenix flew gracefully around the castle. A cat danced its way towards Professor McGonagall who held her head in her hands, trying to hide her smirk. A yellow and brown badger leapt its way across the lake and chased the still circling phoenix. A lion shot into the air with a mighty roar, jumped across the length of the lake, and prowled after the badger. A green and silver snake slithered its way around the castle's dungeons. An Eagle flew into the sky, spinning around magnificently before exploding again showering the students in blue and bronze ash. The rest of the animals followed, covering the grounds in Hogwarts colours. Just when they thought it was all over there was another loud BANG! and the sky read:

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 1974

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were sent off in the morning on the Hogwarts Express to their respective homes with the promise of a week's worth of detentions for when they returned.

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 **Hey, crazyfangirl100 you're amazing! (For some reason, your pm is off or else I would have let you know that personally.) And don't worry about me not continuing, I've got plans, a lot of them, so I probably won't stop until people stop reading because this is fun :D I'm really glad you liked it and I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter. Thank you so much for your review and for reading. 3**

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 **All rights reserved to the legend JK Rowling**

 ******* **Starting in year four their use of bad language or "offensive terms" (shout out to James) will increase, or I want to write it like that at least, given the fact that they're getting older and it happens. But, of course, my readers come first so if any of you have any problem with bad language (ex: "the f-word") pleeease let me know! through either an anonymous comment or a private message, whatever you feel comfortable with. Trust me I get being uncomfortable with it, I was for a long time. Note that even if only _one_ person tells me that they're uncomfortable with it, I won't do it, so sorry if that's something you look forward to. Even if nobody says anything or you're too late coming in, I'll put a warning for bad language at the beginning of the chapter so you can skip it and message me and I'll just tell you the important stuff that happens so you can keep up.**

 **Thank you for those who have reviewed, favourited, followed, or just read (though I don't know how you keep up with it if you're not following, you have a talent) you guys are awesome.**

 **...ok I'm done,**

 **Lots of love and XO's*****


	22. Summer chapter 1

**I know that today is Lily Evans-Potter's birthday but I've been so overcome with grief about how shitty Sirius's life is, (possibly because of this chapter) that I have not been able to properly celebrate. Actually - no - it is because of this chapter so...**

 **WARNING: Child abuse that may induce extreme anger and slight depression (unless you don't like Sirius. That's possible, right?) No joke there's legit child abuse here. Proceed with caution.**

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Chapter 22 Summer chapter 1

It was a pivotal summer, the summer of 1974 for the whole of the, now, fourth year Gryffindors. For the girls, it was full of firsts; a first kiss, a first loss, a first fight, a meeting. For the boys, however, this summer held nothing special. There were no real firsts for them, but still, lessons were learned.

Sirius Black was greeted on the platform, as usual, by his house elf, Kreacher. Kreacher apparated him and his brother back to Grimmauld Place. Regulus went dutifully off to the drawing room to be welcomed home by his parents and any guest they might have. As usual, Sirius went to his bedroom, careful not to be seen. He stripped himself of his clothes as Kreacher drew a bath for him. He entered the steam-filled bathroom and tried not to breath in too deeply or else he'd choke on the foul smell they used for an antibacterial soap. Sirius had a sickening instinct that it was ammonia.

Before he even touched the water his eyes stung and his throat burned. His skin instantly flared up in response to the hot temperature. He tried to show no signs of pain as Kreacher scrubbed his skin with a bleached rag, knowing that if he did it would only change Kreacher's rant from his disappointing and embarrassing his parents with this year's escapades to a rant about his deserving what he got for having 'filthy mudblood' friends. By the time Kreacher was done scrubbing his skin raw, Sirius had open sores along his legs and backside. He stepped out so Kreacher could drain the water.

Finally allowed to be alone Sirius stepped into the cooling relief that was his shower. The water pelted and soothed his tense and throbbing muscles. His burning sores began to heal as the chemical was rinsed off of him. Knowing that if he waited too long Kreacher would come for him, he wrapped himself in a towel.

Kreacher was waiting for him. His dress robes were already prepared and laid out for him on his bed. Kreacher stood beside a wooden chair, dittany clutched in one hand and hair clippers in another. Sirius sighed, heavily but made no other signs of protest, knowing that if he did his mother would be called. He dropped the towel on the floor and grasped the back of the chair to allow Kreacher to drop the dittany onto his wounds. He braced himself for what was to come. The clear liquid splashed onto him, spreading a tingling cooling sensation through one of the sores then the burning returned only for it to subside to a light sting and finally it became numb then Kreacher moved to the next. His muscles tensed again and he clenched his jaw, trying to keep his moans silent. When Kreacher announced he was finished Sirius gasped, not realising he had been holding his breath.

"Sit in the chair Master Sirius, and remember if you wiggle too much Kreacher might accidently cut off your ear," Kreacher croaked and laughed though Sirius swore he could hear a hopeful note in the house elf's voice. Sirius watched as Kreacher reached out with boney twitchy fingers for the hair clippers. He switched it on and the vibrations seemed to shake the house elf's entire skinny body, though his hand was steady. He used an empty crate to reach his master's head. Sirius watched as the clippers grew slowly nearer but shut his eyes tightly before it reached his scalp, not wanting to watch as his hair fell from his head. He gripped the edge of his chair as the vibrations came closer to his left ear anticipating the sting of the razor's blades as Kreacher continued his earlier rant over the clippers hum. Sirius thought bitterly of not having to hear the elf's voice again if he did cut his ears off. Just one unanticipated twitch would do it. But, alas, the elf finished his task before Sirius really decided to do it. Sirius sat awkwardly still as he allowed Kreacher to brush bits of hair from his naked skin. Sirius lurched to his feet as Kreacher reached for the broom and rushed to his dress robes.

This is where things ended. This is where he was allowed to go and do whatever he wanted as long as he stayed out of his parent's way. Relief radiated through him. He shamed himself for it. He should be used to this by now. He should be stronger and not let it bother him. It didn't matter, it was over now and he just needed to get out and away from that damned elf.

"Mistress would like to see you in the office," Kreacher croaked. Sirius froze, his hand clutching the door handle, his throat tightened and chest compressed. 'The office' was a room the Black children thoroughly tried to avoid. It was a room, in the words of his parents, 'for contemplation, punishment, and redemption.' It was the office that led to his 'cleansing' in first year when he announced he met a boy named James Potter and his frequent hair cuts after he disappeared to the same boy's house just last Christmas. He should have expected it with Kreacher muttering about shame and embarrassment. You do not embarrass the Blacks.

"I think I'll just pop down to the kitchen for a light snack before I go," Sirius said, lightly. He opened the door and attempted to flee without hearing Kreacher's protest.

"Kreacher has been ordered to see that Master Sirius goes to the office directly after his cleansing, no exceptions," Kreacher said, grasping Sirius by the end of his robes. He allowed Kreacher, with a small fist pressed to his lower back, to lead him to the office.

"Will you bring me something?" Sirius asked desperately before Kreacher could shut the door. He already felt his hunger gnawing at him.

"No," the elf spat and disapparated quickly before Sirius could order him to. Sirius shut the door and turned to face the office.

It was a round room decorated entirely with wood. There was no window and no fireplace. There was one high-backed chair that sat behind the large desk with an oil lamp on top of it, offering the only source of light. The punished were to never touch the chair so, every time Sirius was sent to the office, he would kneel on the floor and his eyes would shift uncomfortably in search for something to latch onto in this plain room. He eyed the only bit of decoration in the place. It was a picture of a wizard, a very old wizard that Sirius always assumed to be Merlin until he had to look at it again. While he remembered the painting, he always seemed to forget that it was in there. When his eyes eventually found it, he was jolted with surprise. He would scan the painting, taking in the details and then think to himself _Merlin could never look so cruel._

Sirius was always amazed that his parents would have such a painting. It seemed to be half muggle, because the wizard, whoever he was, never moved. He never blinked, his chest never gave any signs of respiration. He was still as stone. Only the leaves on the bushes behind him rustled in the wind and occasionally a shadow would flick between the trees. Perhaps the wizard wasn't enchanted to move but instead was charmed to make the viewer be overcome by immense guilt because that is what happened whenever Sirius would meet the cold, dark eyes of the wizard in the portrait. Despite his discomfort, he could not move, he could scarcely blink lest he break eye contact with the wizard. Then the guilt would sneak it's way through him, starting in the pit of his stomach like an unpleasant custard. Then his memories would flood his mind and suddenly he was repulsed by himself. Thinking of everything he's done in the past three years made him physically ill.

Sirius did not know how long he was left in the office nor how long he had been staring at the wizard, but when his mother finally entered, she carried a lantern and the hall was very dark behind her. Sirius trembled with hunger. His knees ached and felt like they were bleeding. His throat stung and his mouth was dry like he had vomited repeatedly. His cheeks were wet and his eyes sore. And though he was finally able to look away from the wizard on the wall his guilt and repulsion still pulsed through him.

"I'm sorry mother," a weak, pitiful, hoarse voice erupted from Sirius's mouth. It surprised him.

"If you were sorry you wouldn't have done it," she replied, her voice was unreadable. His mother had yet to face him so he kept his eyes on her back, measuring her actions. She was sure to strike, the trouble was knowing when. Sirius cleared his throat before talking, taking care to keep his voice steady.

"I wasn't thinking. I just-"

"You never think Sirius, that's your problem." His mother whipped around to face him at last. Her narrow eyes searched his face. "You surround yourselves with people who are beneath you in every way, and look at what happens." Sirius flinched and recoiled. "You don't see Regulus acting like this. I'm just glad he hasn't followed in your footsteps."

Sirius was at a loss for words. So, he stayed silent, still on his knees in front of his mother surveying him.

"Your father thinks we should take you out of school." His mother paused, watching him as varying expressions crossed his face. He carved his face into a stony mask. The guilt was still in him but it was slowly being overcome by a desperate desire to remain at Hogwarts, with his friends, where he had complete control over his life. "I think," she continued, mistaking his mask for acceptance, "that there might still be hope for you. So you will remain, but only if you join the Slug Club with your brother."

"So, is that to be my punishment?" asked Sirius finally felt the familiar flame of anger burst through him. The corners of his mother's mouth twitched in amusement succeeding in angering him more.

"No, your father requested I leave that to him. You'll wait for him in your bedroom after you go to the kitchen for something to eat," she answered, looking at the blank wall behind them. Sirius caught a spark in her eyes that sent chills through him and had him questioning what his father was intending to do. "Do you understand what is expected of you?"

"I'll join the Slug Club with my brother," Sirius recited, his mind wandering elsewhere.

"And the mudbloods?"

"I will keep them in their proper place." He felt his mouth form the words but the words had no meaning and only had the effect of bringing a vile taste to his mouth. Had he learned to survive the office?

"I don't want to hear any more about them. Not even Potter. Understood?" Sirius nodded. This was something easily done. "Go to the kitchen and eat quickly. I don't want your father to have to wait for you." Sirius stood, his knees wobbled with the effort, and he walked out of the office without glancing back at his mother.

It was evening now and the whole house seemed to be asleep. He skipped down the stairs careful not to make too much noise and entered the kitchen. A place was set on the table baring only bread and water. He didn't feel very hungry anymore, anyway. Despite his mother's warning, he ate slowly, taking his time to prepare himself for what was to come. Was there a potion that could help him subside the pain? What was it that Remus took before the full moon? Something with Meadowsweet? That was no use. He doubted his parents would have Meadowsweet and it certainly wasn't in his potions set. He gulped down the water, already having wasted enough time picking at the bread crumbs on his plate.

"No point in delaying the inevitable, Black," he said to himself, more to give himself courage than anything else. He made his way back up the stairs and to his bedroom. He shut his door with a light _click_ and sat on his bed, staring at the door handle, waiting for his father's arrival.

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 **CrazyFangirl100, thank you, once again for being awesome! I know I usually update much more quickly but I had to make sure everything was in order. That and I've been avoiding this chapter. Sorry!**

 **Pran, I'm glad you liked my story. I hope you still do.**

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 **HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY EVANS**

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 **I am so mad because I was rereading HBP and Dirk Cresswell is younger than the marauders! I could go back and just change his name I suppose. but I don't want to because I like his character and now every time I hear the name Dirk Cresswell I'm going to think of him like this, no matter what. So screw cannon!**

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 **This chapter made me want to cut off my own head, then burn Walburga and Orion Black alive, and then wrap Sirius in a giant fluffy blanket and hold him until all of his problems go away (yes in that order.) How was it for you guys? I hope you don't hate me for torturing Sirius. It's not my fault (it kinda is) I was going off of the cannon material.**

 **That being said: All rights reserved to JKR**

 **XO**


	23. Summer chapter 2

*****WOOHOO a happy chapter after all that dreadfulness!**

 **WARNING: Language******

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Hope Lupin was Remus's mother. She was an understanding and kind-hearted woman, who was currently working as a checkout operator in the local supermarket. She was also a muggle. Her husband Lyall Lupin was a very skilled wizard who worked freelance in beast control in local areas. It was because of this the Lupins felt the need to keep their son's unfortunate condition a secret. So they kept moving. Whenever a neighbour got suspicious about a strange noise in the night or they noticed Remus's frequent illnesses, the moving boxes would come and they would relocate or 'start a new adventure' as they often told their son. Moving, as adventurous as it may sound, was not without its disadvantages. It lost Hope's ability to have a stable career despite her degree and it was rather expensive. So they lived in a shabby neighbourhood called Lewisham. But they have been able to stay in this house for almost four years. It was comfortable. Remus had a specific place to turn whenever he came home from school - that wasn't his bedroom. They were happy, as they should be. And the first few days of the holiday were quiet.

Remus Lupin was bombarded with owls from James Potter, not even a week from when the holidays began. The first letter was pleasant though dramatic as James usually was.

 **Hello Moonchild**

 **i am writing to demand that you come and visit me over the holidays. especially since both of our other friends are currently grounded for last year's mischief. what can i say? they live in the past. but us, we prefer to live in the present.**

 **PLEASE SAVE ME FROM THESE DREADFULLY BORING OLD PEOPLE MY PARENTS HAVE DEEMED "FRIENDS"**

 **waiting patiently for your owl**

 **J**

 **aka the man you've insisted on calling "patches" (ridiculous)**

His reply:

 _Hello PATCHES (as long as you insist on calling me 'moonchild' I will continue calling you patches)_

 _Old people are not boring. Albus Dumbledore is old. Minerva McGonagall is old. Horace Slughorn is old. None of them are boring. Although we have discovered this only because we have given them a chance. Perhaps if you do the same for your parents' friends, you might find them enjoyable..._

 _Now that that's cleared up…._

 _I can not visit you over the holidays, as much as I want to. Visiting you last Christmas was, in the dullest sense of the word, magnificent. However, travelling with my condition is difficult, to say the least._

 _I hope you're not too put out. I'm sure Sirius and Peter will not remain grounded for the remainder of the holiday._

 _Speaking of, say hello to Sirius for me if you hear from him._

 _Give my best to your mum and dad._

 _-Remus Lupin_

 _Aka I refuse to call myself that outrageous name._

The second came barely an hour later:

 **REMUS LUPIN YOU SON OF A BANSHEE**

 **what is it with old people that makes you so obsessed with them? is it their wrinkly skin or their greying hair? or perhaps it is because they always smell like soap? i will never understand.**

 **FOR MERLIN'S SAKE you can change here! i don't know if you remember or not from you last "magnificent" visit, but we have a huge garden and behind that theres trees and behind that theres a river and behind that theres more trees that go on for miles and miles and miles and miles before you would ever reach any signs of human life. by god man pull yourself together and get your ass down here.**

 **i reckon pickles and cottontail will not be allowed to visit me even if they do get off grounding**

 **see you soon MOONCHILD**

 **J**

He had actually asked his parents if he could go after he received this, but he was reminded that werewolves can run long distances and that he needed his potions to help ease the pain. He shuddered to think of what it would be like without them, so he replied:

 _Patches,_

 _I realised this might be difficult for you to accept but… you are the one with the bunny costume, not Peter. While Peter Cottontail may share the same name as our Peter, the fact still remains that you are the rabbit - not Peter Pettigrew._

 _Also wasn't it your family who wrote the book? Adopting the nickname would show that you have pride in who you are and who your family is. Or are you not proud to be a Potter? Your father will be so disappointed._

 _Hoping that you'll come to your senses,_

 _Remus Lupin_

 _P.S. James Potter, you almost used a swear! What would your mother think? -R.L._

He couldn't even fathom what James's reply would be. He paced the floor of his bedroom, hoping to calm his nerves, expecting the next letter to come as fast as the last one did. However, it did not. He waited three days for James's reply.

 **remus fucking lupin**

 **if you do not get down here i will bring the wrath of the potters down on you. bunny costumes are only the beginning moonchild. i will come down to your place, kidnap your entire family, and drag you to the WORLD CUP!**

 **yup the world cup moonchild. do you really wanna miss out on that?**

 **its going to be legendary. just imagine, for generations to come they are going to be talking about this event. what are we going to tell our grandchildren?**

 **the year was 1974. it was the 417th edition. syria vs madagascar. directed by one of the greatest chasers in quidditch history ROYSTON IDLEWIND! PLAYED IN FUCKING FRANCE! AND REMUS 'MOONCHILD' LUPIN WAS STUPIDLY ABSENT BECAUSE HE WAS STUPID WHEN IT CAME TO HIS STUPID PROBLEM! honestly you are a shame to grandfathers everywhere. if i were your grandchild i would slap you. i hope that, right now, you can feel the burn of every slap your 2 dozen grandchildren are going to give you.**

 **seriously. free tickets to a once in a life time event. a trip to france with the one and only JAMES POTTER! you get to hang out with james potter in france. im just trying to save you from a life time of regret.**

 **which is why i am politely suggesting that you get your fucking ass to my fucking house, as soon as fucking possible! we already have the guest rooms ready for you and your dear mum and dad.**

 **are you happy now i swore? legitly. and multiple times. im just glad pickles not here to see this. i am disgusted with myself**

 **no, my family did not write that book. it was a muggle by the same name. the reason why were not in the 'sacred 28' is because too many muggles share our name.**

 **we call 'peter' cottontail, because is birth name is peter and (mostly) because it annoys him. whoopdedoo, we've established that we all have nicknames that we hate.**

 **james potter, as if you didn't know**

Remus found himself shaking with laughter at this letter. He showed it to his mother who, despite only telling Remus not to copy his friend's language nor encourage such behaviour, decided to talk to her husband about the possibility of her son accompanying his friend. Remus did not know this, so his response was:

 _James fucking 'Patches' Potter_

 _2 dozen grandchildren? REALLY? You expect ME to have 24 grandchildren? That is even more ridiculous than 'moonchild.' Congratulation you have officially lost your mind._

 _-Remus Lupin_

 _P.S. What. The. Hell. is 'whoopdeedoo' doing in YOUR vocabulary? I was under the impression that you were the cool one. I guess that title will have to go to someone else. -R.L._

He wasn't expecting an answer. He certainly wasn't expecting a Howler, but that is what he got.

 **REMUS MOONCHILD LUPIN**

 **I ONLY HAVE SO MUCH PATIENCE! YOU EITHER TELL ME THAT YOU'RE GOING IN YOUR NEXT LETTER OR I** **WILL** **BE AT YOUR DOOR TOMORROW EVENING TO KIDNAP EVERY SINGLE LUPIN I LAY EYES ON. I DON'T CARE HOW BADASS YOUR DAD'S REPUTATION IS! I WILL TAKE YOU ALL KICKING AND SCREAMING!**

 **Hey Mr and Mrs Lupin, hope you're both doing great. Mum sends her love and Dad says hi. I'll see the three of you soon. Have a nice night…**

 **This is James Potter by the way.**

He was so distracted by his own embarrassment and his parent's laughter that he almost didn't notice the second letter that came with the Howler.

 **i expect nothing less than 24 great- nephews from you. If you fail to deliver i will make the rest of your life hell. so you better get started.**

 **and sod off, im still cool!**

Once Hope and Lyall Lupin settled their laughter, they told their son that they decided that they were going to allow Remus to go, but, only after the full moon. Needless to say, Remus was excited.

 _James,_

(He decided to start off peacefully. Leave the exciting news for the end.)

 _The Howler was not necessary. You nearly gave my mother a heart attack. She's a muggle you know!_

 _24 grandchildren are, by far, too many. Sorry to disappoint._

 _I'm afraid that once it get's out that you used the word 'whoopdeedoo' you will no longer be cool. I wouldn't be surprised if it brought you down to Snape's level on the social scale._

 _My father lives up to every word of his 'badass' reputation and I'm afraid that a simple third year (or should I say fourth year?) would not pose any threat to him. Yes, even the great James Potter. He is that much of a badass._

 _Luckily for you, my father is a reasonable man. He has granted me permission (probably to save your ruddy ass) to go with you to France to see the World Cup. I'll be at your house around mid-August. About the 17th should do? Unless, of course, it's inconvenient for your parents then another date can be scheduled._

 _Looking forward to seeing you_

 _Remus_

It was said, that in the summer of 1974, James Potter's screams of delight could be heard throughout the UK. It may seem by that statement, that no one could be happier at that moment than James Potter, but it wasn't true. Remus Lupin was much happier. He felt so happy, he could have possibly burst. A smile did not leave his face for what remained of his time at his parents house. Even as the full moon approached, though it was faded, a smile still played on his lips. He was, finally, going to be able to do something like a normal boy. He knew that while in France, he wouldn't have to worry about the moon, or potions, or moving, or unexplained absences. He wouldn't have to see the strain all of this put on his parents. Starting on the 17th of August, Remus Lupin was a normal boy wizard, going to see a quidditch game with his best friend.

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 ******CrazyFangirl100, I'm really glad you liked it! Even though it was sad and creepy... Kreacher was always creepy for me, even when he was nice to Harry in the end. Really, really, really, thank you, for your continued support and encouragement, it means a lot. XO**

 **Drifting17 Hey, you're still here! You were one of my firsts Thank you, for still reading and for your reviews.** **I'm stoked that you still like it** **:D Sirius is my favourite too (just don't tell the other marauders ;D)**

* * *

 ****Shout out to Beatrice Potter and J. K. Rowling, all rights reserved.**

 **Thank you for reading** **.**

 **I think we all need a friend like James Potter. Isn't he the best And Remus dude! Ugh, he just needs to be happy, constantly.**

 **Anyway, I'll see you all later with more wibbly wobbly, magic-y wagic-y... stuff. (That was a terrible spin on a wonderful quote and I'm not sorry in the slightest)**

 **XO*****


	24. Summer chapter 3

*****A/N: A quick recap:**

 **James's nickname is Patches because someone tried to scalp him at the end of last year and failed, but not completely because he did have bald patches.**

 **Sirius is called Pickles because sometime during their first year Sirius was soaked in pickle juice as a result of a backfiring prank, and (according to James) he smelt of pickles for quite a while after that.**

 **Peter's called Cottontail because his name's Peter and James was trying desperately hard not to be called Cottontail because of the stupid pink bunny outfit his mother sent him for easter.**

 **Remus is called Moonchild because he's friends with giant dorks.**

 **And at the end of last year, they set off a bunch of fireworks in the shape of the house mascots (? is that what they're called?)*****

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Summer Chapter 3: Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew is a wizard of a muggle family. He was just the right height for his age, though he was a little pudgy. He received averaged markings in school and was not particularly remarkable in any way. This could not be said for his siblings. His eldest brother, Adam, won the nation's science fair when he was only 11. Adam is currently going to school, with a full scholarship, to become a chemist. His sister, Rachel, just graduated at the top of her class and was offered a position on a professional women's football team. His younger brother, Zach, is 9 and just won the school spelling bee. While Peter brought home a resounding 43 detentions for several accounts of destroying school property, using magic on his peers, causing chaos in the Great Hall, and setting off fireworks in the middle of the night. Their mother, Ms Caroline Harper has not stopped cleaning since Peter got home. Peter was too nervous to wake her out of her trance.

"She's been muttering about arson since she started on the oven," Peter told Adam the first day he got back from university.

"Well, Pete, I think it's safe to say you're grounded," was his only words of solace before he shut the door of his bedroom. Rachel only made the problem worse. She kept tracking in mud or leaving her sports gear in inconvenient places. Zach tried to help by doing the dinner dishes but only succeeded in splashing dish water all over the freshly cleaned floors. The Pettigrew children quickly realised that there was nothing they could do to help their mother out of this state, so Zach stayed outside, riding his bike with the neighbour boys, Rachel stayed out late "practising" with her new team, and Adam stayed locked in his room "studying." Peter, knowing that it was his fault, tried to help his mother all while staying out of her way. While Ms Harper reorganised the kitchen pantry Peter worked in the garden and was especially careful not to use magic, terrified to imagine what a letter from the ministry would do to his mother.

He was just repainting their picket fence when Peter had an idea. A risky but brilliant idea. Ms Harper had a brother who was particularly good at distracting her. All it took was a phone call. Peter carefully slipped through the sliding glass door, dialled the number, wincing when his finger hit the metal piece a little too hard, and ran back outside, stretching the coiled cable as far as it would go so that no one could hear their conversation. He sucked on his bleeding finger, waiting for his uncle to pick up.

"You have reached the Simmering Gay Phone Sex call centre, which one of our boys do you want today?" came a sultry voice from the speaker.

"Uh... Uncle Alex?" Peter asked, slightly panicked. It sounded like his uncle, but if it wasn't….

"Oh, hey, kid. How's it hangin'? Wait, which one is this?" Uncle Alex asked and Peter couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you really running a phone sex line?" Peter laughed.

"Nah, that's just to keep the undesirables away," Alex chuckled, "so what's the deal kiddo?"

"Er… well, it's mum. She's upset, 'cause dad… and me, sort of. Point is she's been cleaning, non-stop since I got home. Seriously, I don't think she sleeps," Peter spoke and chewed his lip, waiting for his uncle's reaction.

"So Car's finally gone round the bend, huh?" Alex answered.

"Yeah, I guess. We've been trying to make it better but… nothing's worked. And you always know how to pull her out of this…." Peter trailed off, hoping to sound desperate enough for his uncle's help.

"Kid, I've got a lot of things going on here," Alex said, sounding apologetic. "Just try talking to her, a bit."

"Yeah, I guess. We just kinda needed help, but we'll figure it out if you're really that busy," Peter answered as if he had lost all hope. He heard his uncle heave a great sigh and there was a jumble of noise before his voice came again.

"Alright kid, you got me. I'm coming. But, warn your mum first, God," his uncle groaned. Peter grinned and silently congratulated himself.

"Thank you Uncle Alex. This is why you are my favourite uncle," Peter said sincerely.

"I'm your only uncle, kid. Now shut up and hang up the phone."

"Kay!" Peter ran back inside, placed the phone back on its switch hook, then raced back outside. He was trying to think of some excuse for inviting his uncle over that would satisfy his mother when he looked toward the setting sun and he spotted a familiar black dot flying overhead, aiming for his bedroom window. It was like James Potter had a sixth sense about these things. Peter quickly packed away his supplies in their shed, carefully slid back through the sliding glass door, and quietly ran up to his bedroom.

James's owl, Archimedes, was waiting for him on his desk, looking haughtily irritated about having to wait for him. Peter didn't have an owl because his mother believed them to be messy and noisy creatures, so James made his owl stay until Peter sent him off with his response. Peter opened the letter and groaned instantly, for it was addressed to,

 **Cottontail,**

 **i realise your grounded, mate, but you've got to get out of it. there is an incredibly important event coming up. maybe youve heard of it? its called the Quidditch World Cup, and now even Moonchild's going so if you dont go you will officially be the worst friend in the history of friendship. Pickles is already going… hopefully, he said his parents already got him tickets at christmas. so if you don't come it'll just be me and moonchild in france occasionally seeing pickles and having a grand old time without you. And don't judge me for saying "grand old time", you should see my house right now. its like a nursing home. just the other day i called someone "the bees knees" honestly if you don't come i think ill go barking mad. SEE I JUST SAID BARKING MAD!**

 **THATS IT! if you don't if you don't come then ill come to you. ill bring moonchild and together we can explain that we live in a blood obsessed society that hates muggleborns and that is why you got all those detentions. james potter to the rescue!**

 **see you soon,**

 **J aka Patches (even though its an incredibly stupid name invented to shame me in a time of distress. I COULD HAVE LOST MY HAIR! i would have looked as stupid as malfoy.)**

 **P.S have you heard from Pickles lately? Moonchild hasn't and its not like him to ignore my letters for so long. even the mirrors aren't working. i should try to floo into his bedroom? J.P.**

Peter, laughing at James's newly developed jargon, prepared to write his reply, quickening his pace as Archimedes impatiently ruffled his feathers.

Patches

You call me Cottontail just because my names is Peter (nevermind the fact that you are the actual bunny) you have no right to complain about Patches. 

No I haven't heard from Pickles. I don't think you should floo to his house, though. His parents sound absolutely terrifying. I have a plan to get off grounding, but it'll take time. My uncle's coming into town soon and my mother usually forgets about all her problems with me while he's here. (He's very unemployed which my mother has a problem with.) The only problem is, she doesn't know he's coming. I invited him earlier today without her knowing, so if your brilliant mind can come up with an excuse in the next 24 hours I'd love to hear it. If the plan works, I'll help you find some way to contact Pickles when I get to yours. 

Of course I know what the Quidditch World Cup is! I'm a muggle born, not an infant. And I am a good friend. I got punched in the face for you three last year! My nose was broken. 

In the meantime, I hope you have a grand old time with the elderly and that you don't go barking mad. Eventually I'm sure you'll find that they are the bees knees. They were young once too, weren't they? 

How's my cat? Hope he's not too much trouble.

Give my best to Moonchild. 

Peter aka nickname pending because Cottontail doesn't fit. 

P.S. I'm sure Pickles is fine. His parents are probably just stopping him from getting your letter's cause they don't "approve" of you. Didn't he say that they'd never actually hurt him? And he promised he'd tell you if they did and he's got that thing about promises. -P.P.

Peter, feeling confident that Sirius was actually okay, sent Archimedes off with his letter dangling in his talons.

Uncle Alex showed up the next day at dinner time, and much to Peter's pleasure and his mother's dismay, wearing a shirt that said POSTER BOY FOR AIDS in bright bold letters. James had yet to get back to him so he simply told his mother, as he watched his uncle's car pull into their driveway, that Alex had called the day before and Peter had invited him over. Zach came zooming in on his bike having recognised his car with a giant grin on his face.

" How's it going Pettigrews!" Alex called after he had thrown open the front door with his arm slung over Zach's shoulders. "And Ms Harper, of course!" Alex added seeing his sister's glare.

"Uncle Alex!" Adam shouted from the hall. He came running into the room to give his uncle a hug, still in his pyjamas looking as if he had slept for three solid days.

"Adam, have you been sleeping all day!" Ms Harper asked in an incredulous tone. Adam shrugged, not looking at all concerned about his mother's opinion. "Just go get dressed," Ms Harper sighed, "Alex, next time you'd visit I'd like a bit of a warning." Ms Harper turned on her heels and walked off back to the kitchen. Alex stared directly at Peter who smiled apologetically back at him.

"The house looks amazing, sis! Don't tell me you did this all for me?" Alex drawled, following his sister with Zach skipping behind him, grinning excitedly.

"Yes, well, you could have a nice house too if you bothered-"

"Oh, Caroline, don't start," said Alex firmly as he took a seat at the dining room table. Ms Harper didn't bother finishing her sentence. She stirred her boiling pot staring through the steam at Alex's shirt. Alex seemed quite at ease leaning with one arm thrown over the back of his chair, smiling casually at his sister.

"Uncle Alex guess what!" Zach bounced on his feet, pulling at the sleeve of Alex's coat. Alex directed his full attention to his youngest nephew, his face brightening in response to his excitement. "Mark Fawley ate a worm today, down by the creek and Corner caught a toad and said he was gonna dissect it and put the intestines in his sister's cereal!"

"Zachariah Pettigrew!" Ms Harper shouted. Zach jumped in response and turned apprehensively to his mother. "If that's the kind of boys you're hanging out with I'll take away your bike, you hear me?" Zach vigorously nodded, wide-eyed. Alex hid his smirk by scratching his bearded face. Peter shook with silent laughter. "Tell him about the spelling bee or something. I'll hear no more of worms and toads."

"A spelling bee?" Alex asked turning his raised eyebrows back to Zach.

"Oh, yeah. At school. I entered and won," Zach shrugged, finally taking a seat between Peter and Alex.

"Car, why didn't you tell me you were raising a genius?" Alex accused, making Zach smirk and Peter roll his eyes.

"It was just the school," Zach said, though his eyes sparked with pride.

"Still you've got to be damn good at spelling. Spell - uh - anal," Alex said, grinning at his sister who scowled back.

"A-N-A-L easy." Zach rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Mr Smarty Pants. How about… hypersensitive," said Alex, leaning forward in his chair toward Zach. Ms Harper cleared her throat.

"Hypersensitive," Zach whispered to himself before beginning to spell, unaware of his mother's growing irritation. Peter, however, was acutely aware of it. His eyes shifted wildly between his mother and his uncle, focusing on his mother's heavy breathing over the sound of Zach's spelling.

"Amazing!" Alex declared, clapping his hands. "I think you might be a prodigy! I didn't know how to spell that word until I was 16!"

"You did very well Zach. Why don't you ride down to the football field and tell your sister it's time to eat?" Ms Harper requested, chopping up her leafy garnish. Zach jumped up and ran out the door. Peter waited silently for something to happen. Alex fidgeted with the length of his sleeves. Ms Harper's knife chopped on the cutting board a bit more aggressively than what was necessary. "Peter will you get your brother?" she asked suddenly.

"ADAM! Time to eat!" Peter hollered.

"That's not what I meant! I could have done that," scolded Ms Harper.

"Sorry, Mum," Peter muttered, picking at the hairs on the back of his neck. Alex cleared his throat.

"So, Pete, how's school? Win any spelling bees?" asked Alex.

"Er no. We don't have spelling bees," Peter explained. He was not sure on how much Alex knew about his school.

"Peter prefers to blow up hallways," Ms Harper said, placing a stack of plates and bowls onto the table.

"I didn't actually blow up the corridor, that was Snape. I just happened to be there," argued Peter.

"That's not what your teacher said," accused Ms Harper with her hands on her hips.

"Who's this Snape character?" Alex asked, ignoring Ms Harper.

"Oh, just this kid in my year. My friends and I don't really get along with him," Peter answered.

"So you were fighting then?" Ms Harper asked, sounding hysterical.

"On account that he likes to blow up hallways?" Alex continued.

"On account that he's a giant greasy nosed git," Peter declared. Alex chuckled.

"Alex don't encourage him! He'll end up just like his father!" Ms Harper ordered.

"I don't think they send people to prison for calling someone a greasy nosed git, Caroline," Alex laughed as Peter smiled wofully.

"They do for blowing up hallways and setting off fireworks and heaven knows what else you've been doing! I don't like those friends of yours, Peter, I don't," Ms Harper ranted, throwing silverware onto the table.

"At least they're not putting frog intestines into people breakfast," Alex laughed causing Peter to chuckle. Ms Harper didn't respond but kept her lips tightly pressed together as if trying to keep the words in. "So you set off fireworks?" Alex inquired, realising his sister had no reply.

"It was just sort of an end of the year celebration," Peter shrugged, not wanting to direct his mother's attention back to him. Alex looked at him expectantly. "See, there's this lake in front of the school so we - my friends and I - took one of the boats and loaded it up with a bunch of fireworks. Sirius's family has a lot of connections, so he can get them pretty easily." Peter paused to look at his mother, to see if she was paying attention. She wasn't but still, he whispered, "some of them were illegal," before continuing. "Then we rowed out the middle of the lake, lit the fuse, swam to shore just in time to see the show. It was brilliant!"

"Awesome," Alex remarked, staring wistfully at the blank wall. He started when Ms Harper threw down a bowl of hot soup in front of him. "But your grades and things, they're okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm passing," Peter shrugged.

"Good. See Car, he's fine," Alex smiled, scooping up some hot soup and blowing on it.

"Yes, passing is just fine, Alex. Nevermind that he's involved in illegal and dangerous activities that could potentially cause harm to himself or someone else. You imagine what would have happened if one of those fireworks had gone astray and hit one of the other students? They could have died. Then we would have a murder trial on our hands!" Ms Harper remarked, resting her head in her hands.

"Not likely, Madam Pomfrey is a really good healer. Between her and Professor Slughorn no one is very likely to die accidently," Peter said earnestly. His mother glared at his nonchalant tone while Alex laughed into his soup. Peter licked his lips nervously wondering how to direct his mother's attention back to his uncle.

"Hey, mum!" Adam called from the living room. "There's some kids out there staring at our house."

"They're probably just lost, Adam! Come and eat some soup!" Ms Harper answered. Adam came scuffling into the kitchen.

"They're carrying brooms," Adam muttered, taking a seat in front of one of the unattended bowls of soup. Peter's eyes jumped to his mother's face. She gave him a questioning look before she walked to the door. Peter stared after her not sure of what to do.

"Does that mean… are they your friends?" Alex asked casually.

"Errr… probably," Peter answered, his eyes still glued to his mother's back. He could barely see her through the door, standing out of the front porch, yelling something into the street. Her shouting stopped but she didn't come back inside. She briefly turned around and then he saw James Potter striding through his front door with Remus Lupin in his wake. Peter stared open-mouthed at the scene in front of him.

"I'll just take your coats - er cloaks. And you can just put those brooms right there against the wall," Ms Harper told two very obvious young wizards. "Peter, these are your friends aren't they?" Ms Harper asked, looking at her son still staring open mouthed and frozen in his seat.

"What are you doing here?" he asked James.

"Peter," Ms Harper said sternly. "That's not a very nice welcome. Introduce us properly so we can sit down and eat."

"Er - well, this is James and Remus-"

"We prefer to be called Patches and Moonchild," James announced.

"He does, I don't," Remus countered.

"James and Remus," Peter said irritably, "And this is my mother, Ms Harper, my brother, Adam, and my uncle Alex." Peter pointed to everyone individually.

"You didn't mention you had a brother?" James smirked, strutting over to the indicated brother to shake his hand.

"I have two, Adam and Zach, and a sister, Rachel," Peter answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Harper," Remus said, shaking her hand. "Sorry for intruding on your dinner."

"Oh, don't worry. We have plenty," Ms Harper said, guiding him into the dining room. James was explaining the sneakoscope dangling from the waistband of his robes to the very attentive Alex and Adam.

"The cat's fine by the way," Remus told Peter.

"Cat?" Ms Harper asked, in sudden alarm.

"Pete adopted a stray cat, sometime after Christmas. Practically brought it back to life," James explained. Ms Harper's sharp eyes fell on her son.

"But James agreed to take it home for the holidays once Peter explained that you were allergic," Remus added, catching Ms Harper's glare. Her expression softened slightly as she prepared bowls of soup for James and Remus.

"That's actually why we came here," James announced.

"No it isn't," Remus said firmly.

"Well, not the cat. My house, Merlin. Anyway, I wanted to personally invite Peter to spend the rest of the summer holidays with me, Remus, and my family. We're attending… a sporting event. It's rather important to our … community," James continued.

"It's kind of like Wimbledon, Mum," Peter explained.

"Exactly," Remus agreed.

"Yes, and my parents have extra tickets so they allowed me to invite my closest friends to come with," James finished. Peter looked expectantly up at his mother, keeping his fingers crossed under the table.

"Peter seems to get into an awful lot of trouble with you two," Ms Harper answered, placing the hot bowls in front of the boys.

"At school, yes. And I'm sorry about that, but this is different my parents will be there," James protested over Remus's thanks.

"No offence Remus-"

"James."

"Sorry, James. But I don't know your parents, and I'm sure they're nice people, but-"

"You can't be sure that they'll keep Peter safe," James finished Ms Harper's sentence who looked both amused and surprised despite the interruption. "See, the only reason Peter gets into so much trouble at school is - well maybe not the only reason, but it's the main one - our world is a bit prejudice against people like Peter, and unfortunately people like you."

"People like me?" Ms Harper asked, glancing up at her brother. Alex only raised his eyebrow and slurped the rest of his soup, his eyes never leaving James's face.

"Yes, non-magic people," James smiled, sympathetically. "And because Peter was born in this family instead of one like mine, he gets… um…"

"Bullied," Peter offered. Ms Harper flashed wide concerned eyes to her son's face.

Why didn't you mention this before?" Ms Harper demanded.

"Didn't want to worry you," answered Peter, looking sadly into his soup.

"And you shouldn't worry. Remus, Sirius, and I will always have his back. And Dumbledore - the headmaster - won't stand for any of that nonsense. Neither will the deputy headmistress. So really Peter is very well protected," James added quickly.

"Of course there are occasions when the professors aren't around and we have to defend ourselves, that is why we have those detentions," Remus said.

"For the most part," Peter said, regretting telling his fireworks tale.

"Yes, I suppose that fireworks show wasn't self-defence," Ms Harper challenged.

"We did that to show house unity. It was all the headmaster's idea," James answered.

"If it was the headmaster's idea then why did you get in trouble?" Ms Harper asked.

"Ms Harper, James means that the headmaster pointed out to us - to the whole school that in times like these - when muggle borns are being actively discriminated against the school needs to show loyalty to all fellow students and encouraged us to show that in any way we can think of. We admit we got a bit over excited with the fireworks show. Thankfully no one got hurt. And I can promise you - we all can promise you that we won't be using explosives to show our love for our fellow classmates," Remus said, in a calming voice James and Peter only heard when Remus found himself in a sticky situation which seemed to be coming up a bit more in the months since their Christmas holiday. Peter smiled, knowing the effect Remus usually had on authority. Ms Harper took in a deep breath and thought over what had just been revealed. There was a lengthy silence which, as usual, James interrupted.

"I suppose I could fly you to my place if you really want to meet my parents," James offered, chuckling weakly. Peter hid a grin in his napkin, imagining his mother on a broom.

"No, no that won't be necessary," Ms Harper waved him off quickly.

"Oh, let him go, Caroline!" Alex shouted. "He's only a boy! If you only knew the kind of trouble I got into at school."

"Yes, and look where you are now," Ms Harper said sharply.

"Fine. But what about Adam? You're telling me that Adam never got into any trouble in school?" Alex challenged. Adam stared guiltily down into his now lukewarm soup.

"Nothing like this," Ms Harper argued in a stern tone.

"I promise Mum, no more arson! No fire or heat! I won't even touch a tea!" Peter begged.

"Well, you're going to have a jolly good time in Potions," James laughed.

"James, they didn't even say that in the twenties!" Remus exclaimed, exasperated.

"I'm pretty sure that phrase is older than the twenties," James argued.

"Exactly! What-" Remus started but Peter cleared his throat silencing him. Everyone seemed to have their eyes on Ms Harper waiting for her reply. Ms Harper ignored them as she sipped at her soup with a very thoughtful expression on her face. This time the silence was not interrupted by James but by Rachel and Zach bursting through the door, red in the face and out of breath.

"Did you run all the way here?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, its called exercise, maybe you should try it," Rachel said, leaving Zach panting against the wall.

"Had to go up a hill," Zach said in between gulps of breath.

"What are you lot doing? And who's this?" Rachel asked, helping herself to dinner.

"And why are you wearing dresses?" Zach asked.

"They're not- they're not dresses!" James said.

"They do kind of look like dresses James," Remus admitted.

"You know those weird robes I've got to wear for school Zach?" Peter asked Zach, nodded, resting his hot head on the cool table. "These are like those, but for every day. It's what normal wizards wear."

"Wizards who live in wizard society," James corrected, "I knew we should have changed into muggle clothes."

"It's not my fault you got all… hyper," Remus argued.

"So you just came by to visit Peter?" Rachel asked, her mouth full of salad.

"Actually, they came to take Peter to James house for the rest of the summer," Ms Harper answered.

"Really?!" Peter jumped up, not caring that his soup had sloshed onto the table.

"Yes, really. But I want letters, weekly. And I will be coming to see you at Kings Cross, hopefully, to meet your parents, James." Ms Harper answered.

"Thanks, Mum!" Peter grinned, "I'm gonna go pack!" Peter dashed off up the stairs, Remus and James following him.

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 *****CrazyFangirl100, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to get over Sirius's chapter :( James is the best! Thank you for the love and support you continue to give me! You're amazing! You make writing worthwhile. XO**

* * *

 **Okay, so, for next year (when they officially start their fourth year) should I do a sequel or just continue posting it here? Cause I kinda want to do a prologue for it, which I guess I could still do if I kept it here. IDK tell me what you think.**

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 **All rights reserved to JKR blah blah blah.**

 **Oh! Happy Valentine's Day! If you're into that/reading this in time. If not then happy regular day?**

 **XO*****


	25. Summer chapter 4

******If you see any of those star things (*) then that means I'm going to explain something about it in my notes at the end of the chapter. If I miss anything/something just doesn't make sense please let me know either in my PM or in reviews, thanks.**

 **Warning: Mild Language**

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Summer Chapter 4

Windsor, 1974

Under usual circumstances James would have spent his summer with his dad in their shed 'inventing' things, playing football with the muggle boys in the neighborhood, trying to get his friends to visit so he could actually practice for quidditch, and laughing at his aunt Muriel whenever she fell asleep in the middle of her sentences. But this summer was not the usual circumstance. It was the summer of the 417th Quidditch World Cup. The Potters were usual spectators in sporting events and thoroughly enjoyed quidditch. They would always make an ordeal out of it. Mr and Mrs Potter would invite their old school friends and colleagues, most of them James only vaguely remembered. He did remember hearing stories about Dumbledore being a teacher instead of the Headmaster and McGonagall being a quidditch legend at one time (he was slightly disappointed to find out how strict she was.) So this summer instead of inventing things with his dad or playing with the muggle children he entertained his parents' friends, listening to the stories he heard a million times before and tried to come up with some clever response to their questions about what he wanted to do after he graduated from Hogwarts. He had no idea but he told Mrs Clemens that he wanted to be a quidditch player. She warned him that, as exciting as the job may be, it wouldn't last long, soon he would get old and wouldn't be able to play quidditch so he should think long term, not just what seemed most exciting. He told Mr Bones that he wanted to train dragons in Romania like his uncle but Mr Bones was courteous enough to remind him with a laugh that his uncle had died at a young age due to his profession. James did not understand how his parents could be friends with such dreary people. By the time Mr Forster had asked him what he wanted to do over dinner James was done with trying to humour them and decided to humour himself instead.

"Oh, I reckon by the time I graduate Mr Burkes will have died and Mr Borgin's will need a new partner. How do you think Borgin's and Potter's sounds?" *James returned, careful not to crack a smile. Mr Forster looked at him for a moment without blinking and James was quite sure he gave the poor man a heart attack but then Mr Forster gave a deep chuckle and returned to his meal. For the remainder of his stay, Mr Forster never said a word to James but kept a close eye on him ever since.

It was a relief when Remus finally showed up in mid-August. Mr Bones remembered working with Remus's father back in his ministry days and had many compliments to give him. Remus accepted them with grace, James, however, was growing irritated. Once Mrs Potter finally excused them James and Remus ran out to the shed. There they practised defensive spells from a book James had received for his birthday. They focused intently on the Patronus charm because Remus told James that his father often used the charm to convey messages to him and his mother when he had to work late. It proved difficult, especially when they had to keep it secret from James's parents (underage wizards were not allowed to do magic outside of school.) They bordered up the windows to keep the bright white light from alerting Mr Potter. By the time James brought Peter home Remus's Patronus moved from small white wisps to a large bulk that looked like it might have legs. A week before the World Cup Mrs Potter announced that they would be waking up early the next day to take a portkey into France. It was the only day the border would be open so it was of the utmost importance they didn't miss it. They spent that day playing quidditch, Peter and Remus against James, in the back garden instead.

rural France, 1974

The sky was a brilliant shade of aqua blue. White fluffy clouds spotted the sky. The sun was shining brightly overhead as the tavern's sign swayed in the light breeze. This was a summer in France.

It was the day before the World Cup and James Potter and two of his three best friends sat under a large umbrella listening to the tavern's sign swing on its hinges, Mr and Mrs Potter's friends laughing inside reliving their youth, passersby speaking in a strange tongue, their steps echoing down the cobbled street. They kept their eyes in opposite directions, watching for a family of four to suddenly show out of thin air. They had to show up here. It was the only magic lodgings in this part of the country. He bounced his knee and thrummed his fingers on the table while he scanned the scenery in front of him. He tried to ignore the hunger that was creeping through him (getting something to eat would mean he would have to leave and then he might miss him - this might be his only chance,) but the smell of freshly baked bread, melted cheese, and savory beef wafted down the street and tickled his nose.

"James," Peter interrupted his sudden surge of hunger, "are you sure he's coming?"

"He did say he was grounded?" Remus added, tentatively. James rolled his eyes, his chest tightened in extreme irritation. He had not been able to contact Sirius all summer, but he did say at the end of last year that he was sure to be grounded.

"He didn't say that! He said, at Christmas-"

"That his parents already had tickets," Remus repeated the words James had been saying all summer. "But James, a lot has happened since then, and his parents are really strict. Even if they did come, they're likely to leave him behind."

"If they show up without him, we'll floo to his house and bring him here." James crossed his arms and leant back into his chair. His tone was so defiantly determined that Remus fell silent.

"Could we at least get something to eat? We haven't ate since breakfast," Peter begged. James, his mouth watering due to the smell from the nearby restaurant, finally broke eye contact with the street lamp in front of him to look inside the tavern. His parents sat surrounded, by the previously declared "old people," drinking out of goblets and eating some sort of french cuisine.  
"Ask someone to bring out menus," James said. His eyes wandered back to the street lamp, combing through the sea of people, hoping to catch the sight of Sirius's back. They absolutely had to come here. James had a hard time imagining Mrs Black - or Sirius for that matter - sleeping in a tent however magically enhanced.

"I don't speak French, James." Peter sounded irritable, though he couldn't fathom why. He didn't really care anyway.

"Neither do I," James shrugged.

"I think menu is actually a french word. We'll see if we can get some appetisers while we're at it. Maybe James will come out of his mood if he eats something," Remus said, getting to his feet.

"You guys can't both go! What if I miss him, and they see me and leave immediately?" James demanded. Peter took an uneasy step back toward his chair but Remus was insistent.

"James, he's not coming," Remus told him, gently but firmly. He tugged on Peter's shirt sleeve then lead him inside, leaving James alone. James absolutely hated being alone - it was worse than silent moments. It was not long before he could feel a million eyes bearing in on him. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, checking his hair, then his glasses, adjusting his shirt and the bottom of his jeans. He zeroed in on a ladybug, inching its way up the pole of the umbrella.

"Stay close Sirius," ordered a proud rough voice that James only ever heard once so he could not place it.* By the sound of his friend's name, though, his head shot up and his eyes flew across the scene in front of him until they fell upon what he had been looking for.

The Blacks prowled down the street. Mrs Black watched him through blue narrow eyes. Her hat nearly fell off her head because her pointed chin (which seemed to be the only thing Sirius did not inherit from her) was held so high in the air. She held a mean looking cat, with a hole in its ear, cradled in her arms. She was very much younger than her husband. Mr Black kept his eyes on his son. His greying hair was still cut short but he had grown facial hair that was just as white as his curling and bushy eyebrows. Regulus looked around amazed at the sights in front of him, seemingly oblivious to anything else. Sirius walked with his usual saunter, having not yet noticed James. He moved closer to his father but that didn't seem to be quite enough for him. Mr Black used his long heavy black cane that glinted green in the sunlight to push his son in between him and his wife. Sirius winced but when his eyes finally fell on James the corners of his mouth turned up into a shadow of a smile if only for a moment.

"L'arriere de la Taverne de Lune,"* Sirius said, reading the sign over James's head. "We've never stayed here before. Why aren't we staying with the Lestranges?"

"Isn't that where Trixie is?"* Regulus asked, walking backwards so he could face his family and as a result, he ran into James's table. Mrs Black quickly grabbed him by the front of his robes with one of her hands and pushed him through the door. Sirius' eyes stared ahead of him, determined not to be caught looking.

"Nevermind that, just get inside," Mr Black ordered. James almost said something. He had cleared his throat, opened his mouth, his lungs full of air sufficient enough to fulfil his verbal abuse. If it hadn't been for the subtle pleading look Sirius sent him he would have. Mr Black gripped Sirius's arms, his knuckles shone white through the brown age spots. James clenched his jaw and gripped the table, coaxing himself to stand down. Within seconds Sirius was out of sight.

James's stomach had twisted itself into a knot. His head was spinning so fast he couldn't make out his own thoughts. His teeth were grinding together, but he barely noticed. Nothing had really happened. It was a relatively normal exchange for a magical family such as the Blacks. But James couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. He only realised now that the feeling had originally popped up when he saw Sirius disappearing from the train station with Kreacher clutching his forearm. Maybe that's why he kept writing to Sirius even when he got no reply and why he kept the mirror well within sight in his bedroom even though all he ever saw in it was his own reflection.

"James!" Peter had come running out of the tavern, grinning. James jumped at the sound of his voice. "Sirius is here."

"Yeah, I know," James said and turned back to the street lamp. It seemed odd to look at it now.

"You all right? Did you talk to him?" Remus asked, setting down a basket full of puffs.

"No, he was with his parents. You know..." James shrugged and reached for one of the puffs. Remus and Peter accepted his casual tone with no question. They went into a lengthy tale about their interaction with the tavern's staff, informing him that in french the proper word for appetisers was "des aperitifs." The distraction, however dismal, was enough to bring James out of his panicked state. Peter had James laughing at his impression of the accents of the wait staff. After they ate James, Remus, and Peter wanted to have a look around the town now that they weren't so concerned for their friend. They would have invited Sirius but the Black's doors were marked by signs reading: "NE PAS DERANGER do not disturb"

It took some coaxing but Mrs Potter finally let James take his friends out shopping on their own, as long as he kept his sneakoscope with him, his wand ready, and he stayed in the touristy part of the town. So James, Remus, and Peter spent the rest of their day discussing the outcome of the next day's match (Remus was rooting for Madagascar but James had bet money on Syria and Peter (knowing how well James kept up with quidditch) wisely followed James) and dressing up mannequins in odd mix-matched outfits, much to the shop owners disapproval. The number of times James and his friends were swore at in French made him almost want to learn the language.

417th Quidditch World Cup, France, 1974

It was day two of the Quidditch World Cup and Syria and Madagascar were neck and neck with a startling 550 points on each side. Madagascar had one more foul than Syria but Syria's chaser had blood oozing from his ears. The seekers were at each other's throats, Madagascar would send Syria into a face splatting dive then Syria would send him into the goal post. It stopped being "just Quidditch" and became personal around when Syria was up 80 to 60. The crowd, the referee, and the commentator (Royston Idlewind) seemed to be growing irritated with the seeker's disregard to find the snitch and end the game. Syria's beater sent a bludger straight for Madagascar's seeker after he had tricked Syria once again into a headlong dive for the snitch that wasn't there. The referee took this opportunity to call a timeout for each of the teams to get their affairs in order. The Potter's and their friends used this time to stretch their legs. The elders decided to stay in their box but James, Remus, and Peter wanted to run freely. They dashed down the stairs, squeezed through groups of people, ran behind the stadiums, jumped over roots of trees and large rocks, and skidded to a stop in front of a river where Sirius was already waiting for them.

"Alright, mates?" Sirius nodded from where he sat, lounging on an overly large rock that James suspected he must have engorged.

"Where's Reggie," James asked between pants. Sirius had made it clear that while his parents were around he could not be seen anywhere without Regulus.

"He went off with Archer," Sirius said irritably.

"With Josie?"* Remus asked, with a tone of surprise.

"Yeah, they met at the tavern. Then they got into an argument and Archer ran off and Reg went after her. He's worse than James, honestly." Sirius shook his head laughing.

"Oi! Evans never ran away from me!" James argued.

"No, but she has made bats fly out of your nose," Peter laughed.

"That was one time! And I didn't entirely deserve it," James argued.

"What about when she and Nicnevin glued your hands to your broom?" smirked Remus.

"That was when we were friends! It was a friendly rebuttal to my putting itching powder in their robes while they were swimming in the Great Lake," James argued.

"No, that was in second year after you jinxed Snape's legs together," Sirius told him, "After the itching powder they transfigured your chow mein into worms."

"Chinese night!" James shuddered at the memory then laughed.

"I still can't get over when she called you a spaz!"

"And when she said that he's the reason that cereal goes soggy!"

"Alright, we get it James is terrible at talking to females." Sirius jumped down from his rock to stand next to James and Remus and Peter fell silent. James rested a grateful hand on Sirius back but he flinched and grimaced. It was only for a second but the three of them caught it and stared at him with various looks of surprise and concern. "What?" Sirius said, defensively.

"Could ask you the same thing, mate," James said, his brow frowned.

"It's not my fault you're such a giant oaf with heavy hands," Sirius scoffed.

"Sirius, you usually have a pretty high pain tolerance," Remus remarked.

"Got something you wanna tell us?" James asked, sternly. Sirius crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Chill out! I'm just a little sore, I've been practising for quidditch all summer. Thought you'd like to have a little competition come tryouts, mate," Sirius smirked.

"You're actually trying out for quidditch?" James laughed. "You'd think he'd try for prefect next!" Sirius let out an echoing barking laugh that helped his other friends relax. "Don't get ahead of yourself, mate."

While they walked along the river's edge looking for Peter, they discussed the ongoing match. Sirius was rooting for Madagascar, mostly to argue with James, and James knew this but still engaged. They found Regulus fighting with Josie, who was red in the face and a head taller than the second year, still, Regulus held his ground.

"It makes sense, though-"

"No, it doesn't!"

"But it does! Look, if you have a dog and he's a mix between a Mastiff and a …. I don't know - a Terrier, and then you have a pure blooded Mastiff, the pure blood would be stronger."

"Oh, dear GOd!" Sirius groaned loudly, interrupting his brother's argument. Regulus started and stared at his brother. Josie scoffed and took a step back. "Josie, just get out of here. Reg, you're not going to change anyone's opinions by comparing them to dogs."

"I don't know, he changed my opinion," James shrugged.

"James-"

"I used to think he was okay - bit of a prat but still okay. Now I kinda just want to hex his face off," James said, slipping his wand out from his pocket. Remus, seeing this, took hold of James's arm. Sirius stepped between him and Regulus and Peter reached out for Josie's hand and pulled her out of the mess.

"James," Sirius said sternly.

"No, Sirius, you heard the way he was talking," James said, trying to pull his arm out of Remus's grip. Remus tightened his hold and hissed in his ear, "this is not going to do anything but hurt Sirius." James was still tense and ready for a fight but he relaxed his hand, letting his wand hang loose. The last thing he wanted was to get Sirius into more trouble.

"James, he's still my brother," Sirius said. "And he would never hurt Josie, right Reg?" Regulus shook his head vigorously looking scared and confused. The thought that Josie might have gotten hurt never crossed James's mind, he was more concerned with the fact that Regulus stood before them, bold as brass, spewing out pureblood - Death Eater - mania.

"Sorry if I scared you, Josie," Regulus said in a soft voice. He looked Josie in the eye and gave her a half smile.

"Whatever Black, just piss off. And Sirius, if you share your brother's opinions you can piss off too!" Josie snarled, her voice cracking before she marched out of the forest back to the stadium. A heavy silence fell over the group. James kept his eyes on Regulus who was watching as Josie disappeared among the trees confusion still marking his face.

"Regulus." Remus's voice broke the silence, sounding careful - like he was weighing every word he spoke. "The things that you said, about purebloods being stronger - whether it's true or not - the Death Eater's, the witches and wizards working for you-know-who … they believe the same things, but they use their beliefs to hurt people, people like Josie. That's why James and Sirius got mad."

"I got mad cause it's not true!" James started, pointing his wand at Regulus. James was not intending to fire anything off but Regulus jumped out of the way and held his wand up defensively. "And people like this git-"

"James!" Remus warned, pulling at the back of his robes. James let his wand fall limp again but this time he held eye contact with Regulus.

"The Death Eaters are getting worse. A few weeks ago they killed a bunch of people right out in public. Just understand that you can't go around spewing bull shit without consequences anymore," Sirius said bitterly. "We've got to get back or mother will worry." Sirius turned to leave not looking back at any of them. Regulus gave an almost apologetic smile to the three of them before following his brother.

"Lupin, I realise that I'm a handsome bloke, but if you could let go of my hand now…." James joked.

"Sorry!" Remus said, releasing James's wrist. James turned away from Sirius and Regulus's receding backs.

"Was that true what Sirius said, that people died?" Peter asked, running to catch up with them.

"Merlin, you've really got to start reading the paper!" James chuckled. James kept his tone light and his expression easy as they headed back to their box. Even as the game started again his mind was on other things. It felt as though so much had happened and yet as if nothing had happened. He knew - somehow - that Regulus would end up more like his family than Sirius had dared to hope against. And somehow he knew that Sirius would come back from this summer acting strangely. Sirius never wanted to join the quidditch team before - even when James suggested it last year he laughed at the idea. His thoughts were finally penetrated by Idlewind announcing "SYRIA WINS!" from the top box. James watched the screen as it showed their seeker holding up a fist in the air, two thin wings fluttered in the crack of his fingers. His nose was swollen and bleeding and he had a black eye but his face was twisted into a victorious smile. Peter let out a loud whistle and Remus hollered in appreciation as the team flew by on their brooms.

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 ********To the guest reviewer (signed Lovingly Deepa) Thank you for everything that you said! I try to stay as close to the canon material as possible (though sometimes I stray a bit) and I always believed that Peter loved his friends. Some people are more selfish than other and tend to put their needs above their loved ones. Granted those people usually don't sell their loved ones to 'the dark lord' in exchange for protection, but still, he's human and Sirius wouldn't have trusted him without reason. (At least I don't think so. He didn't seem like a very trusting person to me.) And thank you for your opinion, I will most likely (like 99%) continue it here. I hope you continue to like it and thanks again for your review! XO**

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 ******* **For those who are wondering what happened to Aunt Muriel (James's aunt see chapter 5 Christmas at the Potters) she - in her fragile state - decided to stay safe at home and away from the excitement of the World Cup**

 **If you need a reminder of when James met Mr Black it was when they come back from the Christmas holiday and James and Sirius almost get expelled and their parents come to meet with the Headmaster. (see chapter 14 Purveyor of Aid to Magical Mischief Makers)**

 **The Tavern that they stay at is called L'arriere de la Taverne de Lune which is The Back Side of the Moon Tavern. As far as I know it's not real - but who knows, the world's a strange and unusual place. (Sorry if the translation is wrong I do not speak french. Remus speaks more than me! I had to google if menu was actually a french word. And my deepest apologies if I got something about the culture wrong. I know nothing about it so I tried to stay away from it as much as I could. Just let me know what needs to be corrected, please and thank you. That goes for British culture too.)**

 **"Trixie" is what - in my mind - Regulus calls Bellatrix.  
**

 **Josie Archer is an OC of mine who's friends/roommates with Lily Evans (she's seen predominately in Chapter 1 A Study in Lycanthropy and Chapter 10 An Adventure with Puffpods.)**

 **(Also, a reminder of some cannon material in case you forgot. James jokes with Mr Forester about becoming Mr Borgins new partner. Mr Forester is so shocked by this because Borgin and Burkes is a shop found on Knockturn Alley known for buying and selling dark and cursed objects. )**

 **I'm using google to help me with 70's slang. If I use anything wrong, say anything that wouldn't have been said then, or you want something to be said (like if you wanted someone to start saying 'groovy') let me know.**

 **Oh, and Wikipedia told me that Syria won the 417th Quidditch World Cup, I wasn't getting political. (Even though Harry Potter, in general, is incredibly political, so I don't know what you're doing in this fandom if you're uncomfortable with it.)**

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 ******* **Hey, does anyone know if JK told us where James grew up? I just put him in Windsor, kinda randomly, so if you know if she said anything (on twitter, Pottermore, or in an interview) please say something.**

 **Questions, Comments, Concerns, (or just want to babble) leave them in the review box or in my PM. I love hearing from you guys, even if it's bad. All criticism is good criticism.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	26. Another Year at Hogwarts

Chapter 1 of Year 4: Another year at Hogwarts

For the past three years, the first of September was celebrated by our marauders in many ways for the lack of parental supervision. In the first year, they set dung bombs off on the train, spilt pumpkin juice all over Hestia Jones's new robes, and "got lost" on the way to their dormitory ending up in the teacher's lounge stealing Professor Slughorn's liquorice wands and treacle tarts.

In the second year, they (James) took the sorting hat while Professor McGonagall was introducing herself to the first years (it took them an hour to find it sitting atop a Gargoyle's head.)

In the third year, they (with the help of Peeves the Poltergeist) bombarded Severus Snape with water balloons and then later took James to the hospital wing after Lily Evans "accidentally" tripped into him and forced him onto his plate of hot, greasy sausages. This year they planned to do something different, something that involved the staff, namely their Headmaster.

They had been discussing it for the entire train ride. Professor Dumbledore would stand up, welcoming the first years to Hogwarts, announce that Mr Filch had gone into retirement (one can dream,) probably make some remark about Voldemort and his Death Eaters officially existing as of this summer (via the _Daily Prophet_ ) and how they are perfectly safe at Hogwarts all the while the curtains behind him would be performing their interpretive dance. They practised the charm many times on their new dress robes (thankfully they didn't burst into flames) and found pleasing results.

They were ready. They rode up to the castle in their carriage wearing masks of boredom because they were assigned to sit with Alice Prewet, a prefect. (Sirius and James may or may not have made some questionable remarks about her and Frank's relationship in reference to their game of truth or dare in the previous year during the entire ride up to the castle.) They made their way to the Great Hall, waving to people they didn't see on the train.

"Oi, Evans!" James shouted, spotting Lily about to walk through the doors unusually not surrounded by her friends. Lily spun around searching through the sea of people with a look of anticipation on her face. Upon seeing James her face fell.

"Not now, Potter," Lily said tightly.

"What's wrong? Did Snivellus decide not to show up this year?" James laughed, nudging Sirius with his elbow.

"We're not that lucky," Sirius grinned.

"He's here, thankfully," Lily said bitterly, narrowing her eyes at the pair.

"So that's what it is? Finally saw what a slimy git he is?" James asked.

"Oh, just bugger off!" Lily spun on her heels, whipping her hair out behind her and strode into the Hall. James sent Sirius a questioning look. Sirius shrugged and they swaggered in to find Remus and Peter laughing with Frank Longbottom.

The Great Hall looked as it usually did. Hundreds of floating candles lit the room, the enchanted ceiling reflected the starry night sky, the house emblems hung above the appropriate table, and up ahead sat an empty stool with a raggedy old hat on top. Behind that was the staff table with Professor Slughorn whispering merrily with a young frumpy witch none of them recognised. Professor Kettleburn (the Care of Magical Creatures professor) messaged the stub that was his left arm while listening to Professor Vector, the Arithmancy professor. There was another wizard they did not recognise, he was tall and broad-shouldered and he smiled jovially as he took in the sea of students before him. _Two_ new teachers and Professor Dumbledore was missing from the staff table. As they turned to point this out to their housemates they found that that was what everyone was talking about.

"Perhaps he's helping the ministry sort out their Death Eater problem," Bertha Jorkins said smartly.

"Does that mean he's not coming back?" asked a second year, who looked rather frightened by the thought.

"Maybe he's just fallen asleep in his office," Lily comforted.

"Or he's ill and had to be sent to St. Mungo's," Bertha continued. This set everyone talking at once. Lily groaned and rolled her eyes in exasperation. Mary McDonald placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Josie Archer took Bertha's hand to walk her down the table to where the older kids sat so she couldn't cause any more chaos. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter listened to the panicked conversation. There were many different theories, all as ridiculous as the ones Bertha had started.

"It does make sense for Dumbledore to help the ministry with the Death Eaters," Sirius remarked.

"He wouldn't leave the school, though. He likes being Headmaster too much," Remus said.

Professor McGonagall walked through the doors leading the first years who looked amazed at the scene around them. The Hall fell quiet. All eyes were glued to McGonagall hoping that she would explain Dumbledore's absence before the sorting.

The sorting hat came to life and started its song. After which they applauded politely, more focused on McGonagall to really appreciate the hat's poetic lyrics. The hat bowed to the four tables and became very still again. Professor McGonagall stepped in front of the first years, holding a long roll of parchment with their names written on it.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. Before she had time to call out the first name the Great Hall burst into hurried whispers again. Finally, the teachers looked at their students with concern. This was not how the sortings usually went. McGonagall stepped up to the staff table and wrapped her wand against it, silencing the whispers. "The elder students are expected to remain quiet while the first years are being sorted," she reminded them.

"But Professor!" James stood and all eyes fell on him.

"Potter, sit down," McGonagall ordered, firmly.

"Yes, but Professor, what happened to Dumbledore?"

"Announcements will be made after the sorting ceremony. Now sit down or you will be removed," McGonagall warned and James sat. The four of them exchanged curious expressions and ignored the rest of the ceremony. They fidgeted with their silverware while Peter checked his map under the table pretending to be picking up a fallen napkin. It only confirmed that Dumbledore was not on the grounds. Once the ceremony had ended they had gained 10 new Gryffindors. McGonagall instead of returning to her seat, stood in front of the Hall waiting for silence to fall.

"I have a few announcement to make before the feast begins!" she called and gained the silence she was waiting for. "First Professor Sprout has decided to take an early retirement and gives his best to all his former students. Second I would like to welcome two new teachers. Professor Sprat will be teaching Herbology." The young, frumpy witch stood and gave a small bow to the applauding room. "And Professor Haas, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." Professor Haas stood, gave four quick waves to each of the tables his smile never wavering. "Third, as Mr Potter pointed out, our headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, is not currently with us. He would like me to assure you that he is fine and in perfect health and will be back at Hogwarts in no time at all. He would also like me to pass on his sincere apology to the first years that he was not here to welcome you on your first day at Hogwarts.

"And finally, I'm sure you all have been wondering why dress robes have been added to your supply list this year. Your professors have decided that this year we will be hosting a ball." With that, the Great Hall erupted into excited squeals and whispers. McGonagall waited a moment before tapping her wand against the table again. "It is called the Alum Ball. Professor Slughorn has graciously offered to take charge of the event. He has requested some volunteers to help plan and set up. You can speak with him later if you are interested." Professor Slughorn smiled proudly at his students, looking as if he had given them a great treat. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, however, felt nothing but dread for this announcement. "That is all, thank you for your patients and let the feast begin!" McGonagall clapped her hands twice and their plates filled with the usual delicious foods.

With the assurance that Dumbledore was fine and their attentions otherwise engaged the students relaxed and talk of the upcoming ball and not much else. Marlene McKinnon told Alice Prewett that she hopes that Annie Trevisani from Hufflepuff would ask her to the ball. Dirk Cresswell was asking Frank's advice on how to ask Cassie Rosier to be his date. Christopher Hemsley (Frank's dorm mate) already asked Amelia Bones to go with him - she said no. Lily announced that she was now a vegetarian because she wanted to make sure she still fit into her dress once the ball came around. In response, James loaded his plate with roast beef, pork chops, and bacon while holding eye contact with her. Sirius laughed while he watched Hemsley try to ask Florence Brocklehurst without Amelia noticing - she did. Peter wondered out loud to Remus if Mary would agree to go with him. Remus encouraged him to try and he almost did but lost his nerve and asked her to pass the salt instead. James tried to tease Sirius into asking Cindy from Hufflepuff but after nearly burning her hair off during tutoring in the previous year he blatantly refused. They all knew that James was bound to ask Lily, but how and when had yet to be answered.

The ghost had even entered the conversations, encouraging students to ask someone to the ball and even floating across the hall delivering messages. The Fat Fryer had asked James if he wanted to go to the ball with Sally-Anne Perks. James announced that he would be decidedly sick that day. Sirius suggested that they make their way to their dormitory before the girls started really getting bold. So they left the Great Hall, asking Frank for the password on the way out.

"How are the Mandrakes, James?" Sirius asked, making sure the door was firmly shut behind him before he did. The Mandrake leaves proved harder than they thought they would be. Holding it in their mouth for a month was the easy part. Finding dew that had not been touched by sunlight, three chrysalis of a Death's- Head Hawk Moth, and three crystal phials was difficult, given their age especially. They were lucky that the night of the full moon was a clear one.

"They're perfect. I've been keeping them hidden in a pair of old socks," James smirked, biting off the head of a Chocolate Frog. "Have you been doing your incantations?" James asked hoping that neither of them forgot and cause them to have to start the entire process over again.

"Twice daily at Sunrise and Sunset," Sirius smiled.

" _Amato Amino Animato Animagus,"_ Peter chanted, proving to James that he hadn't forgotten.

"And you remembered to keep the tip of your wand on your heart?" James said seriously. He had been worried that Peter had forgotten this while he was home and he didn't want to mention it with his house full of ears. To his relief, Peter nodded dutifully.

"Good thing too. With such a dangerous transformation, I would hate for something to go amiss," Remus said, pointedly.

"Yes, it would be terrible if Peter had to spend the rest of his life as half a fish," James laughed. "And don't even think about stealing the leaves! Sirius charmed the heck out of my socks on the train while you weren't looking."

"I just said I didn't want anything to go wrong," Remus said innocently.

"You know, I don't really like that double heart beat bit," Peter said, grimacing.

"Just imagine what it's going to be like when you actually turn into an animagus!" Remus told him, devilishly.

"Lupin!"

"Remus!"

James and Sirius looked at him furiously. Peter chewed his bottom lip and wrung his hands nervously.

"It's true!" Remus argued. "If your gonna do it, you should know what's going to happen. Read the book, Peter."

"Peter, the heart thing only happens the first time. We already told you that," James soothed, making Peter turn away from Remus.

"Yeah Pete, don't listen to Remus. He's just being a prat because he thinks it's too dangerous for us - that he's too dangerous," Sirius said, glaring at Remus. Remus sighed and took butterbeers from his trunk to pass around.

"Let's talk about something else. James, how are you going to ask Lily to the ball?" Remus asked, sitting on the floor in the middle of the room.

"I already told you, I'm going to be decidedly sick that day," James said, tossing his head into the air and dropped to the floor, crossing his legs.

"Yeah, right!" Sirius laughed.

"He's probably going to ask her every day 'till then," Peter smirked.

"You should probably do it quick. I heard Nick Graves from Ravenclaw saying that he wanted to ask her," Remus grinned.

"Oh, I've got a brilliant idea! Why don't we lightly poison the punch bowl and make everyone sick so the ball will be ruined and they will never try to do this again?" James said.

"I think you should at least give her flowers," Peter said.

"Yes! Dad always uses _Orchideous_ whenever he wants to impress Mum," Remus offered.

"Or we could tell Professor Kettleburn that we've always wanted to learn about trolls. You know he'll bring one into class. And then on the night of the ball, we'll release it from wherever he's keeping it and guide it into the castle. It'll be hilarious!" James laughed.

"Maybe you should write her a poem. 'Roses are red, so is your hair. Please be my date, or it just won't be fair!'" Sirius said, and they collapsed into giggles.

"Please be my date, or it just won't be fair?! Sirius, I am never taking love advice from you," Remus laughed.

"The flowers were a good idea though," Sirius chuckled.

"That's enough you love sick, hopeless romantic, idiots," James laughed, but it sounded forced. "I'm going to bed. Good night." He stalked off to bed, smiled shortly at his friends, then waved his wand to turn out the lights leaving them in total darkness.

"I guess the ginger's a touchy subject," Peter whispered.

"We do keep teasing him about her," Remus whispered back.

"SHHHHH!" James shushed loudly.


	27. The First Loss

**Recap of chapters 19 (All That Matters) and 20 (Obligation and Another Memory.) While Sirius and James were doing their assigned tutoring session, Eilidh Nicnevin and Lily Evans burst in and start some drama (for reasons that aren't important now.) This led to a small Malfoy and Snape vs James and Sirius squabble. In the end, Eilidh told Lily that she knew for a fact that Malfoy was a Death Eater and was suspicious of Snape being one as well (in a guilty by association way.) The next day, both Eilidh and Lily end up in the hospital wing; Eilidh tortured, Lily obliviated. Eilidh, Sirius, Remus and Peter had a long discussion about it. They ended up inviting Eilidh to help with their cause but she refused for confusing reasons. Enjoy :)**

 **Warning: Language**

* * *

Chapter 2 of yr4: The First Loss

As the sun rose over the Forbidden Forest and crept its way into Gryffindor Tower James woke to find that Sirius was already awake. Seeing his messy head peek through his bed curtains Sirius announced, "Good Morning."

James squinted from both surprise and lack of perfect vision. He clumsily reached for his glasses on his nightstand muttering "what are you doing up?"

Sirius shrugged in response. James, now being able to see him properly stared at him incredulously. Sirius, dressed in his school robes, was organising his school supplies. His quills were sharpened to a point, his parchment was neatly stacked and ready for class, his wand and broom looked freshly polished. James's supplies were still wrapped in the brown paper his mother brought them home in.

"I didn't think you were capable of waking up till noon on your own," James said, slowly. Sirius merely chuckled. "Did you sleep at all last night?" James asked, seeing that Sirius's bed was still neatly made, exactly as it had been last night.

"Course I did," Sirius said, not looking up but looking down the length of his quill. Upon inspecting his friend further James noticed dark circles forming under his eyes.

"You look tired," James told him.

"I think I'm still on french time. We stayed for longer than we were expecting," Sirius shrugged again, hoping that James would let the subject drop. James was determined to make Sirius talk to him so he stayed quiet, filling the room with an awkward silence. Sirius's will power almost won but before James could start babbling about their new professors Sirius continued. "My cousin -Andy's sister - got married to that Lestrange bloke. He's just as mental as she is…. It made me realise that I didn't want to live off my parents for the rest of my life and to do that I need a job. Andy did it and she's doing great, even has a baby…. Course I only know because Narcissa ran into her in Diagon alley…." Sirius trailed off wearing an odd, distant expression on his face.

"So we're focusing on our grades this year. Mum'll be thrilled," James said brightly, hiding his concern. "Remus can make us a study schedule. It'll have to work around Quidditch but Cresswell's pretty good at keeping regular practices."

"Good, good. There is one more thing." Sirius took a deep breath and added in a rush, "I've promised my mother that I'll join the Slug Club." James could not do anything but blink at this. "I've got to keep my promises," Sirius said after a long pause.

"Mate, you're not joining the Slug Club," James said with an air of telling him that two and two is four.

"Uh, yes I-"

"No. This is where I draw the line! You can join the Quidditch team. Get all O's, hell you could even make prefect, but you are _not_ becoming a Slug!" James shouted, firmly, rousing the others from their slumber. Remus and Peter sat up and looked confused at the pair in front of them. Sirius made eye contact with all three of them, stuttering before he said;

"James, I made a promise."

"No," James said simply.

"James."

"Show of hands! Who thinks Sirius could do anything else but join the Slug Club?" James stood with his hand raised above his head and watched as Remus slowly raised his hand. Peter looked still confused but raised his hand half way.

"It's not up to you guys, anyway!" Sirius said, making to leave.

"You joining the Slug Club will reflect on all of us!" James argued.

"Oh! So that's what your problem is! You're afraid people will think less of you if one of your mates is in the Slug Club!" Sirius rounded on him.

"You're being a right prat, you know!" James yelled.

"That's not what any of us meant," Peter said through a yawn.

"We've been worried about you ever since we saw you at the World Cup," Remus added, Sirius wavered yet did not back down. "You have to admit that you joining Slughorn's club is a bit weird."

"I made a promise," Sirius repeated. He looked around at the three of them, daring them to protest further.

"So break it!" James roared defiantly and Sirius flared.

"James, he's right! We can't decide this for him, especially if he made a promise," Remus told James, his eyes never leaving Sirius.

"Oh, fuck that! He's only doing this because his parents are forcing him to!" James yelled, finally breaking eye contact with Sirius.

"Did you just swear?" Sirius chuckled weakly.

"He's been doing that a lot recently," Peter smiled, hoping that Sirius's chuckle meant that he had calmed down.

"You can thank Lupin for that," James said, smirking a bit but his voice was still heavy.

"Well don't. It's weird," Sirius said.

"If you can act weird, I can too." James folded his arms and looked stubbornly victorious.

"Fine, we'll all act weird. Remus can start going to class on the full moon and Peter will try to break the detention record. It's bound to be a thrilling year!" Sirius returned.

"That's different!"

"No, it's not! It's exactly the same. I promised _my mother,_ James. You don't think I'll get into trouble at home just like them if I don't?" Sirius argued. James's face fell and for the first time, there was no trace of a smirk.

"So, we're joining the Slug Club." James nodded once and crossed over to his trunk and pulled out his robes.

"You don't have to, James, just me."

"Oh, I know, Pickles. I'm gonna find Cresswell and ask him about tryouts. Peter, are you still gonna ask Maggie about dropping Divinations?" James said, combing his fingers through his hair, trying to calm his bed head.

"Right!" Peter said, jumping out of bed.

"Guess, I should go with you to talk to Cresswell," Sirius said.

"That's Captain Cresswell to you," James smirked.

They had talked so long that James and Sirius were one of the last to leave the common room. The staircase was deserted except for the sound of echoing, hurried steps floating up to them. They thought it might have been Filch, so they paused to check that their shoes were free of mud. It was not long before they realised that the footsteps truly belonged to Eilidh Nicnevin.

Eilidh was marching up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time, with a determined look set on her face. Upon seeing them she stopped short. Sirius found that his tongue suddenly felt heavy in his mouth.

"I need to talk to all four of you. It's important," she said and continued up the stairs seeming confident that they would follow. Sirius shook his head at James, indicating that he did not care to talk with her. He was still angry with her for claiming Lucius Malfoy as family in the previous year. James shrugged and gave an apologetic smile before following her steps. Sirius contemplated going on without him but in the end, he gave an irritated groan and ran to catch up with James.

"What is it?" Sirius asked harshly after the portrait had closed. She had already stopped Remus and Peter from exiting.

"Not here, it needs to be private," she said, strongly. The boys only now noticed the anxiety that seemed to coil off her.

"What's happened, Eilidh?" Remus asked kinder than his friend.

"Let's just say that you were right. Things are much worse than I thought they were," She answered, her lip quivering slightly. She shook her head, hardening her expression. "I'll say no more 'til we get somewhere more secluded."

"There's nobody here," Peter said, observing the empty common room.

"You don't know that," she said with an air of finality.

"Our dormitory," James said, leading the way up the stairs. Once he had reached room number seven, he pushed the door open and starting kicking things out of the way, picking up clothes and shoes. "Sorry about the mess," James said pleasantly. Eilidh entered the room ignoring her surroundings.

"Can we shut the door?" she asked politely and Sirius obliged, being the last to enter. "So, firstly are you guys fighting the Slytherins because they're weird and creepy or because they're supporting… you-know-who?"

"Both," James and Sirius answered together but Remus claimed that it was "only because they're siding with you-know-who."

"Good," she nodded, pointed her wand at the door and muttered "muffliato" before placing herself on one of their trunks. "It's a spell that prevents anyone from listening to our conversation. Lily taught me," she told them answering their questioning looks and Peter's "what was that?"

"Speaking of, does she know you're here?" Remus asked.

"We're not exactly on good terms with her right now," Peter added. Sirius scoffed and James rolled his eyes.

"I haven't seen her at all, actually. I just got here about an hour ago. Mum tried to stop me from coming back because of what happened this summer," Eilidh answered.

"And what happened this summer," James asked, sensing her point. Eilidh took a deep breath.

"The Death Eaters killed a load of muggles in Ireland. 13 women and 5 men. Apparently, the women were dressed as witches for some festival and the Death Eaters took offence and attacked. The men jumped in after seeing the commotion, trying to help… and then they killed them." Eilidh trailed off. Most of this they already knew because it had been reported in the _Daily Prophet,_ but the author seemed so focused on the dark mark appearing in the sky that they forgot to mention the details of the event.

"We heard. But what's that got to do with you?" James asked. Eilidh again took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"My dad was one of the men that died."

Silence rang throughout the dormitory. They all seemed to be at a loss for words. Eilidh pressed the sleeve of her robes into her eyes to keep the tears from streaming down her face. Peter looked awkwardly at his shoes. James nervously ran his hand through his hair. Remus passed her a handkerchief and patted her gently on the shoulder.

"Bu- but you're a pureblood. A Nicnevin. They've always been pure," Sirius said, voicing his confusion. Eilidh shook her head, still using the handkerchief Remus had given her.

"Everyone assumes I am because I took my mum's surname." She finished drying her eyes and sniffled. "After my mum married Ulric, she got kind of stir crazy and left the wizarding world for a bit. She moved in with my dad and had me but left thinking I was a squib. I was about six when I first showed signs of magic. Dad found Mum again thinking it would be better for me, so she and Ulric took me in, claiming me as their own." She twisted the handkerchief around her fingers, tears streaming freely down her face now.

"So, you took your mum's name and just never told anyone who your father was?" James asked with a note of disapproval. Eilidh shook her head and sobbed.

"James!" Remus shot him a look to silence him. "We're sorry for your loss, Eilidh."

"We _are_ sorry," Peter said, wanting to stop Eilidh's tears.

"Truly. It must be horrible losing your father," James said as delicately as he could. Eilidh dried her face and let out a shaky breath attempting to calm herself.

"Take your time, Eilidh. We don't have any qualms about skipping class," Sirius smiled, sitting next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder hoping to comfort her but only succeeded in making her cry more. Sirius withdrew his hand and placed it awkwardly in his lap. "Were - were you two close?" he asked, trying another means of comfort. She gave an odd sounding giggle and wiped her eyes.

"Yeah - I mean I always felt… _normal_ around him. My mam kinda keeps me separate from everyone else 'cause she's afraid people will find out, but Da - he told everyone about me. Everyone close to him, anyway. He didn't care that I was different," Eilidh shrugged. James sat on her other side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Peter was holding her hand. Remus and Sirius each gave her apologetic smiles. Sirius reached out a hand and patted her head making her laugh. It was the first real laugh, however shaky, they had heard from her and it made them relax.

"So - sorry - but what does this have to do with us?" Remus asked.

"I want to help!" she said, obviously not realising that they hadn't caught on. "I know I said I didn't last year, but I didn't know they were attacking muggles too."

"But why do you care about muggles if you don't even care about muggle borns?" Sirius asked irritably.

"You're even friends with Evans, and Mary, and Josie, and Marlene, but you still said you didn't want to help so what's the difference?" James asked, agreeing with Sirius.

"Muggles are completely different. They're defenseless. Sure, they're clever but they have no idea what's coming. Muggle-borns - they can defend themselves. You've seen Lily in class, she's one of the best. And Mary's brilliant at charms. Even Josie, I've seen her take down three sixth years single handedly and she's probably the worst in our group," she explained. "That doesn't mean that I don't want to protect them. When I said that last year, I… I was scared and I thought I was protecting Lily by staying out of the fight. I don't want to fight in a war anyway, but I can't just sit by and watch defenseless people, my friends and family, get tortured and killed because some dolt thinks he has the right to. So, I want in and I'll talk to the girls about helping too, but I'll understand if you don't want my help anymore," she finished, gasping for breath.

"We'll need to talk about it," Sirius said firmly before any of them could accept her offer. From what Eilidh could see, Sirius was the only one with an objection for her.

"You don't trust me." She said speaking directly to him. "Do you think I'm lying?"

"I trust you enough to know you wouldn't lie to us," he stated.

"Then what?" She asked looking confused and possibly hurt.

"You and I… we're very similar in important ways but it's our differences that are… off putting." He tried to explain as well and as delicately as he could; something in him wanted to run from her but at the same time he was drawn to her. "We need to discuss this before I trust you completely."

"Sirius, I think we should give her a chance to explain herself. We owe her that much. If it weren't for her we'd…" James said subtly gesturing to Remus.

"I agree. We should give her a chance." Remus spoke.

Sirius looked at Peter for defence but he shook his head not wanting to get involved. Sirius sighed and turned to face Eilidh.

"We'll be down in the common room then," James said pulling Remus and Peter through the door.

"Why?" Sirius yelled sounding almost fearful.

"This is between you and her, mate." He grinned before shutting the door.

Eilidh looked almost as uncomfortable as he felt. Sirius moved around the room picking up his clothes as he went.

"We throw clothes everywhere, to keep the house elves out. Don't want them finding anything they shouldn't, " Sirius explained trying to fill the silence.

"Sirius, I don't really like explaining myself." She interrupted.

"Me either." He admitted.

"I hate small talk more." She continued.

"Me too. I just wanted to avoid the awkwardness." Sirius shrugged.

"I'd like to be friends. I feel like we could be." Eilidh started.

"Same here." He said awkwardly as if admitting his feelings.

"We can't be friends if we don't trust each other."

"You don't trust me?" He asked sounding hurt.

"I don't trust people who don't trust me. My mother taught me that." She answered. "I did trust you. You're honourable and always try to do the right thing no matter what. That's what I always loved about my father."

There was a comfortable pause between them. Eilidh looked deep in thought. Sirius was simply speechless. He felt oddly proud of reminding Eilidh of her father, especially after the way she explained it.

"I think I know what you mean about our differences." She nodded.

"You do?" He asked, not entirely sure if he knew what he meant himself.

"You'll do anything for the people you care about, no matter what happens to you." Eilidh started. Sirius felt odd, as if he were seeing himself for the first time. He found no reason to argue with her, he _would_ do anything for them. "I would do anything for my friends and family, really. I know I haven't been acting like it. I'm just so tired of this war! It's pointless and exhausting, and I'm just done with it, or I thought I was. I think I didn't really have anything to fight for. Lily's my best friend, but she's always off with Snape so it's not like you four. And Marlene always hangs out with Alice and her friends, so maybe my dad dying is what I needed," she said starting to tear up again. "I'm sorry." She whipped her eyes and sniffled.

"For what?" he asked, forgetting why he ever felt bad towards her.

"For crying so much, and for what I said last year," she shrugged and chuckled awkwardly.

"I'm not afraid of tears and I suppose, since you seem to be truly sorry, what you said can be forgiven." Sirius smiled pulling a tissue from his nightstand and handing it to her, noticing that the handkerchief was thoroughly soaked. "I do have one more question though."

"Okay." She said shakily.

"How much do you disagree with your family? I know about the muggles and such but what about…." Sirius started not sure if he could out right ask without giving his friend away.

"About werewolves? It's about the only thing we agree on." She guessed. "Why is that a deal breaker for you?"

"Not at all," he grinned. "So do you know…?"

"Know what?" She encouraged.

"Er, a lot about them. I was kind of intrigued by them after that essay last year." Sirius lied.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for that by the way. You got an O."

"Knew I would," he grinned. "So do you know a lot?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Sirius, my family clings to old Celtic traditions. They believe that werewolves are meant to protect us. So, naturally, we like to keep them around." She answered.

"Like pets?" Sirius asked with his face screwed up in a look of discussed.

"No!" She screamed. "Look I'm done explaining myself. No, they're not pets, they're friends- family, even. No, I don't agree with the importance of blood status and yes I know about your friend if that's what you were really trying to ask."

"Friend? What friend?" Sirius stuttered.

"What?" Eilidh asked, looking as terrified as he felt. She had to have meant Remus.

"You mean…? Remus?" He asked cautiously half cringing, hoping he wasn't wrong.

"Yes." She sighed with relief. "For a second I thought I gave him away."

"Well, you could have always obliviated me." Sirius joked.

"I wouldn't." She smiled shaking her head.

"I know." He said once again shocked by himself. "So, James and I have this theory. You know how werewolves don't pose any threat to non-human animals?"

"Because the curse can only spread through humans, yes." She nodded.

"Well, we kinda thought that maybe the same would be for animagi, even though they are technically human," Sirius explained. She took a moment to think on this before continuing.

"Well, werewolves are always the wolf and the man, one and the same. Just like animagi. You turn into what ever compliments you, so if you, you'd probably be something obnoxious like an elephant, you'd always be the elephant and the man." She explained.

"An elephant?" He asked incredulously.

"You're loud and big. Even you have to admit it fits." She smirked. Sirius opened his mouth to argue but decided against it.

"So what does that mean, will it work?" He asked instead.

"Theoretically it would." She shrugged. "But I don't think it's ever been tested, even by Mikalov." Sirius nodded.

"This is all hypothetical of course." He added hurriedly.

"Its none of my business what you do." She shrugged. "As long as you're aware of the risks." She warned.

"As I said entirely hypothetical," Sirius smirked. "Besides the first chapter of that book pretty much destroyed my childhood ambition of joining the werewolf race." Sirius joked. Eilidh laughed genuinely and for the first time since her father died, it hurt her chest.

"Well, if you're done with your interrogation maybe we should join the others." She said just now realizing how close they were sitting to each other.

"I don't think I actually asked you anything." He stood making his way for the door.

"There was no need. I was so intimidated I started babbling." She joked following him.

"You were intimidated! Who's the one with the werewolf guards?" He laughed as they descended the stairs.

"You're the only one with a werewolf here, mate."

"Yes but I'm picturing an army at your end."

"We only have one currently and he's old so yours would beat mine in seconds." She smiled genuinely. "Speaking of yours. Please don't tell him I know."

"Why? I think it'd help him to know he's got another person on his side." Sirius argued.

"If he wanted me to know he would have said something. He's been a werewolf much too long to not know who I am." She explained. "Besides once they find out you know and you're okay with it, that's all they ever want to talk about." She joked.

"Remus isn't like that." Sirius defended.

"It was a joke. I really don't mind talking about it with them." Eilidh shrugged.

"Oh, right." He said.

"It's alright. You're protective. It's one of the things I always admired about you." She smiled.

"Well, look at you. You're willing to go to war for your father. If that's not protective then I don't know what is." Sirius returned. They stopped at the foot of the stairs watching the other three.

"What do you think James is fighting for. You fight for your friends. Remus and Peter, they're in whether they like it or not. But what about James?" She asked him.

"Because it's the right thing to do. That's just how he is. If he believes something is right, he'll fight to the death to prove it. Also for Remus and Peter and all the others, but I think that even if we didn't have them, he'd still fight." Sirius explained.

"So he's like you but more intense." She concluded.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Sirius grinned. "I mean we're like each other." He corrected.

"Oi, Nicnevin, Black! You gonna stand there making googly eyes at each other all day or are you gonna make yourselves useful?" James shouted.

"Shut it, Potter!" Sirius said rushing at his friend. They collided against each other crashing to the floor. Peter and Remus laughed before piling on top of them.

"Should I be intercepting this?" She shouted, not sure if this was an actual fight or not.

"We're fine!" The four of them shouted still tangled in each other.

* * *

 *****So, one day I was researching werewolves, specifically early legends and myths (cuz Imma nerd) and I came across this awesome Irish (could be Scottish too but IDK) legend about how werewolves would protect woman and children from abuse, help travellers, and protect villagers from outsiders like the Vikings and shit. I thought of Remus (obviously) because the stupid wizarding world is so against werewolves and there's not a lot of people fighting for them yet we have these stories and JKR said that she based her werewolf shit on actual myths so I was like where are my little Celtic buddies fighting for their warriors, ya know? So yeah, that's what inspired the Nicnevins.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **All rights reserved to JKR.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	28. Who The Hell Is Nick Graves?

Chapter 3 of yr4: Who the Hell is Nick Graves?

Lily scratched at her electric blue nail polish, it was already chipping anyway. She slouched in her seat, trying to listen to what Professor Vector was saying but found that his words floated in one ear and out the other. She glanced at Severus sitting beside her. He sat with his back straight, his quill hovering above the parchment. He was listening so attentively to the professor he forgot to take notes. She sighed and looked across the room to Josie. Josie sat with her head on her desk, her quill moving across the page. Lily hoped that she was taking notes and not writing to Mary. She looked behind her to see if Mary seemed to be waiting for anything. Mary had her legs up on the desk, chewing gum and twisting a strand of hair around her finger with a vacant expression. Josie was once again their only hope of passing Arithmancy.

Lily had promised herself that she would pay attention in this class this year, but she was too distracted- too irritated to focus. For one thing, James Potter kept flitting into her mind. She hated him. She hated everything about him. She hated the way he walked down the halls running his hands through his hair. She hated the way he chewed on his quills in class. She hated the way he ate his food. She hated that smirk that was always on his face. She hated the way his eyes would light up and he would get loud when he talked about Quidditch. She hated the way it seemed that every time they put their differences behind them and became friends, he would do something horrible again; like making leeks sprout out of Severus's ears.

And then he and his friends hadn't shown up at all today. Severus, of course, was the first to notice this in first period. "The stupid prats can't even turn up to class on the first day!" he had said. It was ridiculous, irresponsible, and disrespectful to the professors, not to show up to your first day of classes, but for some reason what Severus had said bothered her.

She was mostly irritated with herself, she supposed because she was still sore with Severus after the row they had over summer. Lily had gone to Ireland for a week because Eilidh's father died, she wanted to be there for her friend. Severus just didn't care. He didn't want Lily leaving because summer was the only time they could truly spend together. At school, there was always Potter, and classes, and other friends that got in the way, but during summer it was just them. Summer was always sacred to them, but another friend in need of support after a death of a close family member… that had to be an exception.

He had apologised and seemed sincere but then, when she told him that Eilidh's mother planned to keep Eilidh from returning to Hogwarts he seemed glad. Eilidh may not like Severus but she was always nice to him, so she didn't see why he would react that way. She didn't know how to confront him about it. For Severus it seemed like the issue was over and done with, he didn't even realise that she was irritated. Potter did and by God did that irritate her too. _Why does Potter have to notice everything?_ she thought to herself, drawing flowers on her parchment so it looked like she was taking notes. She could hear Severus's voice in her head saying " _because he's an idiot, why do you care anyway?"_ and she let out a quiet laugh. This Severus did notice. He gave her a questioning look which she responded to with a smile and a shrug then mirrored Josie's posture.

"Lily, we're supposed to be taking out our books," Severus whispered. Lily shot up and indeed everyone had their copy of "The Magic of Numbers" written by Pythagoras himself, out on their desk.

"Lily are you alright? You seemed distracted in class," Severus asked as they walked to the Great Hall for lunch.

"I was a bit distracted I suppose," Lily admitted. She smiled at him, seeing that he was really concerned. "It's nothing to worry about. It's just Eilidh and…."  
"And?" Severus pressed. Lily shook her head.

"Just Eilidh. I'm a bit worried, I haven't heard from her since I got back. I'll just write to her after classes," Lily said. She smiled and waved goodbye to him before skipping off to the Gryffindor table to join her other friends. Mary and Josie had already found Marlene.

" _Please_ tell me you were taking notes," Lily begged Josie, throwing her books down on the table and her rucksack into an empty seat.

"Mind you I was half asleep when I did." Josie yawn and reached into her bag to take out her notes. Mary looked over Lily's shoulder as she read through Josie's scribbles. "Magic in numbers. Numbers are the least magical thing on this planet! I can't believe I let you talk me into taking this ruddy class again."

"Thank you, Josie, you're the best," Lily smiled brightly and put the notes into her Arithmancy book.

"Mary, love, I hate my dress robes!" Persephone Machault announced as she took a seat next to her. "My mum made me go shopping with my grandmother and she kept me locked in the changing room the entire time! I've got old lady robes."

"Alice said Hogsmeade weekend isn't until the end of the month, but I'm sure we can help you find something for a decent price," Marlene said. Lily nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, guys!" Persephone said.

"No problem. I need to find proper shoes to go with mine anyway. The ones I got are not going to be kind to my feet and I actually want to dance that night," Lily said. Lily, was thoroughly looking forward to this Alum Ball.

"Reckon Sirius got taller over the summer?" Josie asked, twirling her hair.

"Who cares?" Lily said much too quickly and as a result nearly choked on her potatoes.

"Oi, he just came in with Eilidh!" Mary said, pushing Lily's shoulder so she would turn around though she didn't need to. The moment Mary said Eilidh's name Lily's head whipped around and sure enough there she was striding into the Great Hall smiling along with James Potter and his Merlin cursed friends.

Lily jumped to her feet and called Eilidh's name. She came running and as she got closer Lily noticed her eyes were red from crying.

"I thought you weren't coming!" Lily said, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Dumbledore came and changed her mind at the last moment," Eilidh answered.

"Good, I'm so happy you're here! Are you alright? You look like you've been crying," Lily asked, pulling on Eilidh's hand so she'd sit down.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just telling _them_ about my dad," Eilidh answered, nodding her head toward Potter and his friends. They were making quite a lot of noise with a group of sixth and seventh years. Lily wanted to ask why she had told them anything but didn't want to pry.

"We're sorry about that Eilidh," Mary smiled kindly and reached over Lily to touch Eilidh hand. Josie, Marlene, and Persephone nodded in agreement.

"Thank you and I'm fine. I just want this year to be a happy, exciting one," Eilidh said and smiled to reassure them.

"Well, you'll be happy to hear this then!" Josie grinned.

"Hogwarts is hosting a ball," Marlene said, sounding very much like McGonagall.

"The Alum Ball," Lily said.

"Slughorn's putting the whole thing together," Mary said.

"We were going to volunteer to help when we go to Potions if you want to join us," Persephone said. Eilidh looked hesitant.

"It might help keep your mind off things," Lily whispered and Eilidh smiled.

"You're right, it sounds fun," Eilidh said. Lily felt much better having Eilidh here with her and that she seemed determined to have fun. She was afraid that she would become distant after her father died but it seemed to be the opposite. "Right, so who are you all going with?"

"None of us has dates yet, except for Marley of course," Josie answered.

"Actually, I don't either. I broke up with Adam," Marlene said like she was telling them that it was rather sunny outside.

"When? You didn't tell us," Mary asked.

"Oh, this summer. I just realised that he wasn't right for me," Marlene said like adding that there was also a brisk wind.

"Did he do something?" Persephone asked.

"No, I kissed someone else," Marlene sighed. "A girl actually, so you see why he wasn't right for me?"

"Aren't you going to the dance with her?" Josie asked.

"No that was just a summer thing. I was kinda hoping to go with Annie, " Marlene answered. The girls thought a moment, trying to remember who Annie was. "From Hufflepuff. We had Astronomy with her."

"Oh right! She's cute," Mary said.

"I think she's going out with Jacob Wright, Marls," Lily said slowly.

"Is she! Damn, I'll have to find someone else," Marlene said, looking only a little upset.

"Why don't we just go together, make it a girls night?" Josie asked.

"Because I'd rather not end the night snogging you!" Mary laughed.

"It'd be the best snog of your life," Josie returned laughing along with them. There was a loud bustle of laughter coming from where James sat with his friends that caught their attention. To Lily's horror, James stood, looking very much like she was his intended destination. James smirked at her and ruffled his hair. Lily felt a familiar sickening somersault in her stomach she felt whenever James directed his attention to her.

"All right, Evans?" James grinned, extending an arm to balance himself on the table separating Lily from Mary. His voice was deep and mature and there was a glint in his eye as usual. She forgot to add this to the list of things she hated about him.

"We're eating, Potter," Lily answered.

"Yes, and it looks like your vegetarian diet is going well," James said. His hand shot to his hair again.

"Thanks," Lily said shortly.

"Could I have a word?" James asked, nodding away from the table. Lily hadn't the slightest idea what James had to say to her, but remembering that Eilidh had come in with him and that she said she had talked to him, Lily thought he might have concerns so she agreed. She smiled to her friends, signalling that she was fine and followed him.

He led her to the corner of the room and she was grateful for it. They were far enough away so no one could overhear their conversation but they still weren't alone.

"So, are you excited about this ball thing?" James asked succeeding in shocking Lily.

"Really, Potter?" she said, letting her irritations seep through her voice.

"What? Hey, if you think it's stupid-"

"It's just not what I was expecting you to talk about." She forced herself to remember that her fight with Severus was not his fault and never mind the trouble he had actually caused.

"What were you expecting?" James half laughed half looked concerned. She hated how confusing he was. She contemplated asking him exactly what he had talked about with her friend but thought that Eilidh would eventually tell her if it was anything important.

"I am looking forward to the ball, why do you ask?" Lily said. James, thankfully, didn't press into what her expectations were. Instead, he ruffled his hair again and said with a smirk;

"I just thought that you and I should go together,"

Lily suppressed a groan. She had hoped that he would drop this little "joke" he insisted on having with her. He was always flirting with her while his friends sniggered and he'd smirk like he was telling a first year that Dumbledore kept a flock of Strix (a flesh eating bird) in the dungeons. (He had actually done this last year. Lily had stayed up helping the prefects sooth their nightmares for an entire week.)

"I'd rather watch paint dry with Professor Binns commentating," Lily said, smiling sweetly.

"Wait!" James reached out an arm to stop her from turning back. "Does that mean you're actually going with that Graves bloke from Ravenclaw?"

"Who?" Lily asked. She knew no one by the name of Graves and she certainly didn't have a date to the ball yet.

"Nick Graves from Ravenclaw said he was going to ask you. Did you say yes?" James asked.

"If I did it wouldn't be any of your business," Lily huffed and stormed off going over her list again. She hated how James Potter always seemed to know things before she did. She hated how James Potter acted like a complete idiot. She hated how he always took his jokes too far. She hated how he brought the worst out of her. And above all she absolutely hated his stupid, stupid hair!

* * *

 *****Drifting17, thank you. Reading your review gave me relief. I know what you mean about not usually liking OC's, that's why I was so nervous about posting that chapter but I'm glad you liked her and thought she fit well in the chapter. For me, those details are what make reading and writing fun so I'm really glad you liked it. I thought people might have thought it a little ridiculous. Thank you again for your review and for continuing to read, I hope I never disappoint you. XO**

 **CrazyFangirl100, thank you, I know Peter is like this constant reminder of what's coming and it makes me so sad thinking about it too. Just do what I do and pretend that everyone survives and Lily and James are living happily with their grandchildren. (picture James with James Sirius :D) I'm happy that you liked how I wrote the Marauders relationship. Their relationship is a key focus for me because it's cute and because it's one of the things that inspired me in the first place. Sirius told Harry in OOTP that he ran away to the Potter's when he was 16, so you're right. Thank you for your review and for reading. I hope you continue to like it and that I don't disappoint. XO**

* * *

 *****I felt kind of bad changing POV right after a heavy OC chapter but when I started to write it, it seemed to just write itself so obviously I had to post it. I hope you didn't hate it. Please tell me what you think and if enough people like it I might do a Game of Thrones type thing where I switch between the Marauder's and Lily's POV (maybe Severus but I think I might be too biased to do it right. I'll try to write something and see if I like it.) I think it'll help with understanding Jily, at least why Lily's pissed off with James all the time because he doesn't seem to get it. (Yet. Seventh year come already!) But if you hated it I'll probably, most likely never do it again.**

 **Just a small hint, Nick Graves is the guy Remus said was going to ask Lily Evans to the ball in Chapter 26 Alexithymia.**

 **BTW I didn't know what that word (alexithymia) was actually a psychological condition. When I found it I thought it was just a cool word for having trouble expressing or understanding your emotions. Which it kind of is but on a much deeper (and not cute) level, so sorry. That'll teach me to use words I randomly found on a hipster post.**

 **All rights reserved to JKR and to Wikipedia for the creepy bird.**

 **A Strix is a bird, usually an owl, from Roman and Greek mythology that eats human flesh and blood. Creepy right?**

 **I hate to leave you with that ugly note but;**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	29. Confessions of a Teenage Werewolf

Chapter 4 of year 4: Confessions of a Teenage Werewolf

From where he sat, Remus could see both Lily's and James's facial expressions. While he had no idea what they were saying because he had never mastered the art of lip reading, Remus could tell that it wasn't going well.

It started with James, nervously gnawing on his lip and almost obsessively "fixing" his hair, leading Lily, looking confused, concerned, then determined, across the Great Hall and into a private corner. (Why James didn't take her out of the Hall completely, Remus didn't understand.) It ended with Lily stomping off, back to her friends, leaving James watching her leave, looking completely gutted.

James continued to watch her as she, Remus assumed, explained what had happened to her friends. James shook his head, looking like he was trying to get water out of his ears, and returned to their table; his face expressionless.

"How'd it go, mate?" Sirius asked, as soon as James sat down. Sirius had sat with his back to the scene so he didn't see James's expression when Lily walked away. If he had Remus felt sure that Sirius wouldn't be asking this question. Instead, Sirius would have found some artful way of getting James out of the crowded Great Hall so could do whatever he needed to do to get over this. Unfortunately for James, he was not Sirius.

"I think she's going with that Ravenclaw bloke," James said, simply and monotonously. He blinked wildly and then his smirk returned to his face. Remus tried to remember if he had seen Lily Evans with and Ravenclaws recently. The only one Remus could think of was one he had made up the night before.

"Chill Potter, there are other girls," Gabe Pevensie said. Remus wondered if he too had seen James's face when Lily walked away. Had Lily told James that she was going with Nick Graves?

"Of course there are," James grinned though it didn't reach his eyes. He wondered if Sirius noticed it by now or if he was putting on a show for their present company.

"Nick Graves?" Remus asked, for clarification. Lily _could_ have been referring to a different Ravenclaw.

"Yes, Lupin. Pass the butter will you?" James said, clearly wanting the conversation to end. As previously stated, Remus was not Sirius; he was not raised to be tactful.

"Did _she_ say that?" Remus continued, ignoring the butter.

"Moonchild, I swear if you don't pass the butter I'll put your face in it," James threatened so Remus passed the butter. He tried to convince himself that Nick Graves actually existed. In a world of wizards and werewolves, such a strong coincidence had to be possible. Right?

"There's always Sally-Anne Perks," Peter laughed and Remus's throat tightened. Sally-Anne Perks was a Hufflepuff in their year who had a bit of a crush on James. She was nice enough but James didn't like Sally-Anne Perks, he liked Lily Evans but because of him, James would probably end up going with Sally-Anne Perks.

"James, I have to tell you something," Remus said, cutting off his reply. He made no apologies as he probably should have done. Instead, he got up and left the Great Hall, leaving his friends looking confused and concerned probably assuming it had something to do with the upcoming full moon.

Remus leant against the wall across the Great Hall feeling nervous and guilty. James showed up a minute later.

"What is it Remus?" James asked, studying his expression. Remus took a deep breath trying summon the courage to confess. When he couldn't he started to pace.

"Lily said she was going with _Nick Graves_?" Remus asked, putting emphasis on the name so it would not be misheard.

"That's what she said," James said, heavily. He shoved his hands in his pockets and aggressively kicked the wall, probably imagining it to be Nick Graves.

Another wave of guilt hit Remus. He prevented James from going to this ball with Lily. And Lily was going to the ball with an imaginary Ravenclaw named Nick Graves. Nick Graves was a truly awful name - he could have done better.

"I'm sorry James," he said softly. James's head shot up. He looked surprised but as the wheels turned anger washed over his face. Remus stood determinedly rooted to the spot, convinced he deserved James's anger. He wondered what James was thinking, if he could see the guilt written on his face, if he could hear the sincerity in his apology.

"What happened Remus?" James asked, his expression and voice controlled.

"I made him up," Remus felt himself grimace when meant to give an apologetic smile. "Nick Graves doesn't exist. I made him up just to mess with you. Guess it worked." He chuckled weakly. He glanced at his shoes then at James anticipating his reaction. James looked like he wanted to laugh but also like he'd very much like to hit him.

"You thick git!" James yelled. His voice sounded odd like he was fighting a laugh.

"I know! I didn't think you'd ask her about it or that she'd say she was going with him. It was just supposed to - I don't know what it was supposed to be, but I'm sorry. I should have told you before you asked her," Remus said. James clenched his jaw. His lips twitched into a hint of a smile.

"She probably thinks I'm an idiot," James said.

"I'll explain it to her. Maybe she'll go with you then," Remus said, smiling weakly.

"Nah, don't worry about it. She always thinks I'm an idiot," James said and hung his head growing suddenly sombre. He was no longer a storm of amusement and rage. There was no hidden smirk written on his face. He was just sad. Somehow this was worse "Thanks for telling me mate." James started to walk away, not back to the Great Hall but to the marble staircase.

"Where are you going?" Remus called.

"Just feel like a walk," James shrugged and gave a half smile before turning around again. Remus felt like he should do something or say something to stop him but he didn't know what. He stood immobilized and mouth glued shut watching James disappear around a corner. He heard the heavy oak doors shut and finally felt like he could move.

"Remus," Sirius said, coming out of the Great Hall with Peter. "Where's James?"

"I don't know, he just went for a walk," Remus said.

"Well, what happened? Is everything okay?" Sirius asked.

Remus thought for a moment. He could easily say that everything was fine. However, Sirius could probably fix the situation with a simple joke. It didn't matter if he didn't want to admit it again or that he didn't want anyone else to know. More than anything he wanted everything between James and him to be right again.

"Actually… I told him I made Nick Graves up," Remus said with great reluctance. He found it difficult to look either of them in the eye.

"Oh," Peter said. Sirius laughed, clutching his stomach. "Is it true?"

"Like, you actually made up some bloke just to get him jealous?" Sirius asked, laughing still.

"Your sympathy is really touching, Sirius," Remus said.

"Remus, come now, you have to admit it is a little funny," Sirius said, trying to cheer Remus up.

"James was really hurt," Remus said. "It only made it worse when I told the truth."

"Mate, it's James. He'll come 'round. Now, we've got to get to Maggies to get our new schedules," Sirius said, leading the way to Professor McGonagall's office.

"Maybe we should find him," Remus suggested.

"You just said he wants to be alone," Peter said.

"When does James ever want to be alone?" Remus challenged.

"When he's thinking," said Sirius. "It's not like he's never coming back. He's probably just working out a plan to get Lily to the ball." Remus heaved a sigh, hoping that James wasn't wandering around the Forbidden Forest. "I wonder how many detentions Maggie's gonna give us for skipping most of the day!" Sirius said brightly.

"Probably another week's worth," Remus said, smiling, buying into Sirius's distraction.

Professor McGonagall only gave them one more detention for missing the day and said she wanted to see James the minute he returned. James didn't show up to fourth period Herbology or Ancient Runes and barely made it in time for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He skidded in, just before Professor Haas shut the door, winded and cherry nosed with the smell of leaves on him. Thankfully there was a huge grin on his face. Professor Haas was nice, but his lessons weren't very informative nor entertaining. Obviously, this led to some mischief.

James mocked the way Evan Rosier slept on his arm with drool pooling out of his mouth and how Severus Snape seemed to write every word the professor said. Sirius made very loud comments about how "interesting" Professor Haas was. What made it even funnier was that Haas seemed to believe him. Peter drew a very artistic picture of Snape that dramatised his worst features. (Yes it did mysteriously end up in Snape's possession by the end of class.)

They had gone back up to their dorm room to drop off their books and head to dinner when Remus pulled him aside.

"Mate, are we cool?" Remus asked tentatively.

"Yeah, mate, we're cool." James chuckled and gripped his shoulder. Remus sighed in relief. "I reckon I owe you one. If it hadn't been for Nick Graves there would have been direct insults to my intelligence."

"Oy, Potter! Try outs on the 10th right after breakfast," Cresswell said, coming out of nowhere.

"Aces," James grinned and skipped down the steps to tell Sirius.

* * *

 *****God, Remus stop worrying so much.**

 **All rights reserved to JKR**

 **Thank you guys for reading. You're all awesome. I hope you liked it.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	30. Try Outs

Chapter 5 of year 4: Try Outs

The sun shone brightly adding some warmth to the brisk autumn air but the wind whipped sharply around them making it difficult to fly. Cresswell insisted on making them fly laps around the stadium so he could see who the best flyers were. James left them all in the dust as he weaved around them, cutting his way to the front again and again. He seemed to like goading Sirius especially. He'd suddenly dive out in front of him making him have to stop suddenly to avoid a collision. Then he'd let Sirius catch up so they'd fly alongside each other, Sirius trying to get ahead. James would inch his way in front grinning mischievously as he did. Sirius would lean forward and plead with his broom to move faster, then James would shoot off laughing and weaving his way around the other flyers while Sirius yelled insults at him, still trying to catch up.

After what seemed like the hundredth lap, Cresswell blew his whistle calling them to the ground.

"Excellent! Really great, everyone," Cresswell grinned after the crowd had settled. "We'll take a quick water break then head back to the sky so I can see how you work with the quaffle."

James beamed at this. He was honestly good at every position available on the quidditch team but chaser was where he really excelled. More than anything it felt good to be back on his broom again, running drills while Cresswell pushed him to go harder, faster, nevermind the wind and the cold. If your good wasn't best then it wasn't good enough. That drive is what always gave him a rush.

Sirius hated it. He hated Cresswell breathing down his neck. With every "faster, Black, faster!" he would give a burst of speed then go slightly slower than he was before; his own subtle rebellion. It wasn't until James started toying with him that he actually put any effort into it.

Cresswell had them line up in pairs to toss the quaffle back and forth. James didn't toss the quaffle to Sirius - he chucked it, almost knocking Sirius off his broom or he'd throw it a little too far to the left sending Sirius spiralling after it. Sirius gave as good as he got, forcing James into dives so close to the ground that it set those watching in the stands (Sally-Anne Perks, Cassie Rosier, Peter, and Remus) on the edge of their seats.

Cresswell used his own position as Beater to add bludgers to the challenge. For older students, this was no problem, having already dealt with bludgers in previous games. The first and second years trying out were terrified. Sirius - he merely hit the ball back to Cresswell. Not having a beater's bat of his own, he broke his hand in the process and was sent to the hospital wing.

Sirius felt sure that because he had to leave tryouts early he would not make the team. James thought that because of Sirius's aggression on the field he was bound to make beater. Remus and Peter agreed with him, saying that from where they sat whatever he had done seemed to please Cresswell.

James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus (the first three getting up early to perform their animagus incantation) spotted the new team listed on the bulletin board the next morning.

 **Captain:**

Dirk Cresswell

 **Co- Captain:**

Frank Longbottom ("Probably to get him ready to be Captain next year," James guessed.)

 **Seeker:**

Gabe Pevensie

 **Chasers:**

Frank Longbottom

James Potter

Marlene McKinnon

 **Beaters:**

Dirk Cresswell

Kingsly Skackelbolt

 **Keeper:**

Sirius Black

"Keeper? I didn't even try out for Keeper," Sirius said, feeling gypped.

"You did keep all those quaffles off the ground," James shrugged.

"So he puts me on the most useless spot on the team!" Sirius exclaimed.

"It's not useless," Remus said.

"Isn't it kinda the most important? I mean they stop the other team from scoring," Peter added.

"Cottontail, I'm a chaser. Pickles isn't even going to see the quaffle," James smirked.

"Even against Slytherin?" Remus challenged.

"Those snakes are nothing without Malfoy," James scoffed. Unbeknownst to him, Sirius began marching up the stairs.

"Hey, Pickles, where ya going?" Peter shouted after him.

"Going to talk to _Captain Cresswell_ about the Keeper thing. Who is this Kingsley Shacklebolt anyway?" Sirius ranted, leading the way up the stairs and to the seventh year dormitories.

"You know Cresswell is captain for a reason," James whispered, not wanting to wake anyone. "He knows what he's doing, you'll make a great keeper."

Sirius didn't respond to this. He knocked on the door three times before entering, not bothering to wait for a response.

Dirk Cresswell's dormitory looked very much like it did in the previous year. The sun was blocked out by pieces of parchment spello-taped to the windows. Lava lamps lit the room, though they didn't know how they got muggle technology to work at Hogwarts. The walls were covered, corner to corner, with pictures of both muggle girls and witches - half naked of course.

They could hear water rushing through the pipes in their bathroom. Someone had fallen asleep on the desk, he had ink stains on his hands and face. They could see Gabe Pevensie's painted fingernails hanging off the bed reaching below the bed curtains just above the floor. Someone else was snoring in the bed next to his though they couldn't tell if it was Cresswell or not.

They had only been in this dormitory once before with the Longbottom brothers. Adrian had graduated and Frank was off on prefect duty - their absence was surely felt.

Sirius suddenly had the horrible impression that he was not supposed to be there, in a seventh-year dormitory, just after the break of dawn, when he only knew two of the inhabitants- neither of which he knew well enough to call friend. He looked to James for support. James merely shrugged and crossed over to the snoring bed to see who its owner was. Unfortunately, James tripped over a large shoe and landed with a loud clatter and a stifled groan of pain. The boy at the desk stirred and mumbled something incoherent. Peter gave a frightened squeak and scurried out of the room, watching from the door frame. Sirius laughed in both humour at his friends' clumsiness and cowardice, and in alarm. He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep the sound from escaping. Remus was just about to suggest that they wait to talk to Cresswell at breakfast in the Great Hall when the sound of bed curtains being ripped open emitted from the other side of the room. James froze, Sirius stopped laughing, Remus's words were stuck in his throat, and Peter started doing an odd looking dance. James lost his balance and fell again.

"For God's sake stop doing that!" demanded a voice in a harsh whisper. It was Dirk Cresswell. He had come into the light of a purple and green lamp, hastily putting on his dressing gown. "What are you gits doing here?" He eyed the three of them and gave Peter a strange what-the-hell-are-you-doing sort of look. Much like Sirius had been afraid of, he looked angry.

"We wanted to talk to you about try-outs," James answered.

"It couldn't have waited until morning?" Cresswell demanded.

"It is morning," Remus said.

"It was sort of a whim of the moment type thing," James said. Cresswell eyed them again, seeming keen on telling them off.

"Meet me downstairs," he heaved a sigh and turned his back on the boys, who hastily scurried out of the room.

"I don't think I've ever seen him so mad," James reflected, having reached the common room.

"He doesn't have to share a room with you, he probably isn't used to such rude awakenings," Remus smirked. James scoffed in response but said nothing.

All of them were too tired to do much but stare into the freshly kindled fire. Waking up early every day to perform their incantation and staying up every night to study and keep up on their homework was already taking a toll on them, even though they weren't even a month into the school year. Their teachers kept their assignments piled high. Frank said it was because they were preparing them for their O.W.L's they'd take next year.

By the time Cresswell showed up, looking like he had just got out of the bath, Sirius and Peter had dozed off again and James was so far gone that he was startled when he took a seat beside him.

"So what is it? I'd thought you liked being a Chaser?" Cresswell said, almost immediately. James remembered from last year the number of complaints Cresswell got from the rest of the team about any decision he made and felt a little guilty for not making a bigger effort to talk Sirius down.

"It's just, we were a little surprised to see that you made Sirius our Keeper," James said, gently.

"And we don't know who Shackelbolt is," Remus added.

"He's our new Beater," Cresswell answered casually.

"We can read," Sirius yawned. "Who is he?"

"He's our new Beater. He's a Gryffindor. A good student, pretty quiet," Cresswell said. "He's the one who sent the bludger into the supply closet." Cresswell locked eyes with James.

"Oh," James said, his tone flat and unreadable. He turned to Sirius. "Mate, you'll make an excellent Keeper."

"Come off it! Who is he?" Sirius demanded, waking Peter in the process.

"I don't know, but he's got a good arm," James said.

"Good aim too," Cresswell smiled.

"Half the blokes in Gryffindor have that, it's not exactly alchemy," Sirius grumbled.

"Sirius, you didn't see him. Cresswell's right in making him Beater. And you will make a good Keeper, nothing ever gets passed you," Remus said, almost consolingly.

"What is it that you're not telling me?" Sirius asked, taking time to look directly in the eye of the three of them.

"He's a third year. Pretty small one too," Cresswell said.

"You're joking," Sirius said.

"No, I'm not. First practice is on the 26th at seven o'clock, be on time if you want to meet him," Cresswell said, leaving them in the common room.

"What the hell is he on? A third year's likely to get killed, especially against Slytherin. They never play fair," Sirius said after he left.

"I don't think that will be a problem for him honestly," James smirked. Sirius threw one of the couch's pillows at him, knocking his glasses askew.

"It's not funny. A third year's playing Beater while I do what? Sit there on my broom, practising meditation," Sirius said, bitterly, his pride obviously wounded.

"He's really, really good, mate," James said, still laughing.

"Oh, shut it Patches."

Sirius's bad mood continued throughout the day, even when they got new intel on the Slytherins.

* * *

 *****CrazyFangirl100 thank you. Jily is life... I would say OTP but Johnlock exists. I'm really glad you liked that chapter :D XO**

 **Splash of Thunder in Mist, thank you and I think you're new so welcome. Sirius and James definitely needed all the luck they could get lol. I'm glad you like my story and hope that you continue to. XO**

* * *

 *****If any of you are English, I hope you and your families are all okay. Stay strong, this too shall pass.**

 **Thank you for reading. :D**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	31. Trouble in Paradise

Chapter 6 of Year 4: Trouble in Paradise

In late September of 1974, there was an important celestial event that was scheduled to take place just after sunset: "Venus will be passing through the Leo constellation; straight by Regulus." Professor Sinistra, the astronomy professor, decided to organise a picnic so they could eat their dinner as they watched the sunset and waited for the stars to appear.

The entire school was out there. Mr Filch (with Mrs Norris held tightly in his arms) tried to keep the first years out of the mud. Hagrid was kindling fires so they could stay warm in the brisk autumn air. Professor Sprout and Professor Sinistra followed him around, setting telescopes down next to the fires. Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Haas levitated a table and chairs so the professors wouldn't have to sit on the ground. The house elves were busy setting out blankets around the fires or putting the final touches on the food they had brought out. It was very rare for house elves to be seen and some of the younger students looked shocked by their existence. They passed a group of Slytherins chuckling about muggleborns with minimal damage, only one yelped in pain and surprise as they passed - Remus looked suspiciously at James but said nothing.

They settled themselves on a relatively dry patch of earth that was close enough to the fire that they didn't need to wrap themselves in their cloaks. Sirius immediately took out his Charms book, having already decided that tonight's events would be incredibly boring. Peter fiddled with his wand, looking for any cracks or dents (it was acting up in Transfigurations today.) Remus, still tired from the last full moon, stared at the passing students milling over the grass trying to find the perfect place to sit. James's eyes grazed over the scene in front of him trying to find someone that could liven things up a bit.

He noticed Dirk Cresswell in the middle of a group of giggly Hufflepuffs with Cassie Rosier on his arm. Given what he saw last year he decided it was best not to interrupt that. Frank Longbottom was trying to hide the fact that he was holding hands with Alice Fortescue. Gabe Pevensie was making doe eyes at someone in his group. James huffed. It was a rather romantic atmosphere with the firelight and the setting sun turning the sky a deep purple. Lily Evans had her head thrown back, her eyes crinkled, her nose scrunched up as she laughed sweet gales of laughter. A warm feeling erupted in James's stomach, a chill went through him, and he couldn't help but smile. Then old Snivel Snail reached out and touched her and the feeling evaporated. In its place was a sickening heartache and a burning desire to rip his ugly face off. They were sitting alone and rather close together (probably at Snape's request,) reading off of an evidently hilarious piece of parchment. They were surrounded by his Slytherin friends, her friends were scattered around miles apart from each other.

He found that he could not look away from them. Every muscle in his body seemed to have frozen and his brain gone haywire. Only when Sirius had announced that he - James - was wondering if his brother Regulus had stopped nursing (in a much more derogatory way. It was Sirius after all,) did he regain his motor skills. James's head whipped around to see Sirius sipping on his pumpkin juice, staring at him with a blank expression. Remus had his face in his hands, trying to hide his laughter. Peter had spit out his drink and was coughing violently.

"I'll just tell her you haven't yet," Regulus snarled, standing over Sirius with his fists clenched at his sides, glowering at him. Evidently, he didn't share his brother's sense of humour. He made to leave. Sirius turned around.

"You can tell her that if she wants to ask me something, she can ask me herself! AND YOU - you can keep your nose out of my business," Sirius said, furiously. Regulus spun around and gave his brother an extremely rude hand gesture. Sirius heaved a heavy sigh then threw his cup down. Grumbling, he stood and marched after his brother. For a moment James thought Sirius was going to hex him but then Regulus turned left and Sirius continued forward toward the staff table.

James turned back to Remus and Peter who, like him, were watching Sirius.

"What happened?" James demanded.

"How could you have missed that? You were sitting right there!" Peter exclaimed.

"Ah, but Pete, Lily was in his line of sight," Remus smirked, waving a hand showcasing where Lily and Severus sat.

"Oh, just shut up and tell me!" James demanded. Sirius had approached the staff table and was now talking with Professor McGonagall who had obviously stopped him from venturing any further.

"Regulus asked about the Slug Club," Peter answered. Remus opened his mouth to add something but James didn't stick around to hear it.

Professor McGonagall had stepped aside to let Sirius pass. He made his way toward Professor Slughorn, shook his hand, and was immediately immersed in a conversation. James leapt over a group of students and landed next to Sirius, nearly colliding with the table in the process.

"Me too!" he sputtered out, gasping for breath. Slughorn looked at him, confused and startled.

"Mate, I haven't gotten that far yet," Sirius said, irritably.

"Well, go on then," Slughorn said. He took his glass of wine and brought it to his lips, smiling over its rim. Sirius took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at James for a moment before continuing.

"Er… James and I were wondering if…" Sirius took an audible gulp and added in a rush, "if we were still invited in the Slug Club…? Regulus said that there was a meeting last week, and we weren't invited to it."

"I know I'm a bit rubbish at Potions, Professor, but I'm fantastic on the Quidditch field, _and_ Professor McGonagall did say I'm brilliant at Transfigurations," James said, sending a proud grin to Professor McGonagall. "And Sirius is actually quite good at Potions when we're not goof-"

"Slow down m'boy," Slughorn laughed, heartily. "The Slug Club isn't just about Potions and I'm fully aware of your talents. Believe me, we would be happy to have you. I was under the impression that you weren't interested. You've been turning me down for four years now."

James and Sirius shared an awkward glance.

"Er… well…."

"We thought it was only for potions," Sirius lied quickly.

"Right! But then we talked to a few members," James said, backing him up.

"Like Evans and Regulus."

"Yeah, and they told us all about the fun… er-"

"Dinner parties."

" _Dinner parties_ … right!" James said, cringing inwardly at the thought of dinner parties.

"And all the cool people they got to meet. And we just thought," Sirius snapped his fingers and gave a very fake toothy grin. " _Merlin,_ we've gotta join the Slug Club!"

James crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping that Professor Slughorn couldn't read Sirius's snide expression like he could. To his relief, Slughorn chuckled jovially.

"An easy mistake to make," Slughorn smiled brightly, almost smugly. "Now that I know you're interested, you can expect an invitation soon. I'm expecting a special guest and I wanted to throw a party for her." Slughorn grinned at them as if he had just given them exemptions from the end of the year exams.

"Oh, joy! Lucky we're not going to miss that, eh James." Sirius stretched his grin so wide James was afraid he'd split his face in two. "Have a splendid evening, Professor."

Sirius turned to leave, his grin quickly fading into a scowl. Thankfully, none of the professors noticed this. James rushed to keep up with him. Sirius kept his jaw tightly clenched. Only when he matched his strides did he erupt into conversation.

"That stupid git! Probably did it on purpose. 'Oh, I'll just back off a bit, then they'll come begging on their knees.' Probably got my mother to press it. When did she ever care about the stupid Slug Club!" he ranted, throwing his arms about.

"If it gets your mum off your back -"

Sirius barked out an odd sounding laugh. "Yeah, right! This doesn't change the fact that I'm a Gryffindor or that I associate myself with such filth as blood traitors and half-breeds and mu- muggleborns. Oh, if she only knew about Remus," Sirius growled with an odd glint in his eye.

"Hey, what did Regulus say when he came over? Nice to see you two talking to each other," James said, dismally hoping that this would take his mind off his mother.

"Who cares what that prat said…! You know you're absolutely pathetic whenever you see Evans," Sirius smirked, obviously intending on this being a joke. James didn't find it funny.

"OUT OF THE WAY, SNIVELLUS!" Sirius shouted. James started. He had been so focused on Sirius that he hadn't seen what was right in front of him.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Severus had, at the sound of Sirius's voice, pulled quickly away from Lily though his hands still rested on her waist. Her arms were draped around his shoulders. James thought he was going to be sick. He didn't know what the embrace had been but it was like he was living one of his nightmares. Sirius pushed Severus ruffly out of his way and Lily shouted at him.

The sickening feeling was quickly subsided by anger. His hands trembled at his sides and he felt a pulse on the side of his head that seemed to goad him on. _Do it! Just do it!_ Severus got to his feet, glaring at James as he did.

"Potter!" Lily said sternly. James broke the eye contact he held with Severus to look at her. He, for once, had her full attention. She had stepped in front of Severus, taking a protective stance. Her eyes, full of determination, never left his.

"Relax Lily, he's too much of a coward to do anything in front of the professors," Severus snarled. This awakened something in James he had never felt before. It was like a monster was trying to rip his way out of his chest while his fingers itched for his wand. He really did hate this greasy, big nosed git. But he was right. The professors were there. Lily was there.

"Oh, shove it Snivellus," James said, with just as much ferocity as he could muster. "Later, Evans," he said softly and stepped around the pair. Sirius was waiting for him with his wand ready.

"He's so dim he puts trolls to shame," Sirius said, sending one last scowl to Severus.

"I'm not pathetic," James muttered icily. He stomped off, making sure the Sirius stayed behind him. His anger had not yet subsided and Sirius's little joke made it very appealing to take it out on him.

"I - oh hold on!" Sirius groaned. He turned, walked up behind his brother, jumped into a sitting position at his side, making the surrounding second years cry out in fright. Regulus, on the other hand, barely moved. "I've just been invited to the next meeting, so you can tell her that I'm in the stupid club."

"Yeah, I can't do that in good conscious," Regulus said.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked through gritted teeth.

"It would be lying. You're not actually in the club, you've been invited. It's not the same," Regulus smirked. James thought it would be very nice to take some of his aggression out on the little prat in front of him but remembered a promise he made to Sirius. Besides, it was just bad karma to hex your mate's brother.

"Reg, just tell her I'm in it. I'll be at the meeting I swear," Sirius said, looking like he couldn't actually believe what he was hearing.

"I'm not lying to mum," Regulus said.

James wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew he was holding Regulus against a tree by the collar of his robes, his face mere inches from his. He was very much aware of how much bigger he was than him.

"Look it you little prat. The only reason I haven't hexed you into oblivion is because of Sirius so you can write your mother and tell her that your _brother_ is an honorary member of the Slug Club. Then you can thank him for constantly saving your ass," James growled. Sirius, after some struggle, pushed him away.

"Is there a problem here?" an older Slytherin wearing a prefect badge had approached them. The surrounding students were either staring at them or watching the staff table to see if the professors had noticed.

"No. We were just talking, right Reg?" Sirius said, pulling James by his arm further away from the scene. "And we'll talk more later, at breakfast maybe… before anything _else_."  
Regulus straightened his robes, his eyes flickering between Sirius, James, and the prefect.

"Black?" the prefect pressed.

"Yeah, we're fine. We were just talking. Everything's fine. I'll see you at breakfast," he muttered, returning to his meal.

Sirius nodded and turned away. This time James was the one forced to fall behind. Neither of them spoke until they returned to their spot on the field. Remus and Peter were no longer there, nor were they anywhere in sight.

"What the hell is your problem?" Sirius hissed. "Regulus was off limits for a reason, you idiot."

"Oh, so I'm an idiot and I'm pathetic-"

"That was a joke!"

"Yeah, well just because you're mad about the Slug Club, doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"

"I _am_ mad at you!" Sirius growled. James didn't know what to say, Sirius had never been angry _at_ him before, but he did find he wasn't particularly worried about it, his anger never really lasted long. Sirius didn't seem to be expecting a reply anyway because he grabbed his cloak and stormed away. James followed though he wasn't sure why. He wasn't able to catch up with him until they got into the entrance hall. They continued up the stone steps, back toward Gryffindor tower.

"Regulus is a prat, and he's not going to stop being a prat until someone puts him in his place," James told him. Sirius spun around and stopped in front of him.

"If anyone's going to put him in his place it's going to be me," Sirius said firmly.

"Right, but you're not. You won't even talk about anything that's happened let alone do anything about it," James said.

"What's it to you anyway?" He yelled.

"You're still my mate, no matter how much of an idiot you are!" James yelled back. Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but something had caught his eye behind James. James spun around to see what he was looking at. There was a shadow coming quickly down the corridor. It was impossible to see who or what it was because only a few lights were left on in the castle but it could very possibly have been Filch. James took out his wand and muttered " _Lumos"_ causing a light to emit from its tip.

"James is that you?!" the friendly voice of Remus Lupin echoed down the corridor.

"REMUS MOONCHILD LUPIN, YOU SCARED US HALF TO DEATH," James responded.

"Sorry, not sorry! Come down here, you need to hear something," Remus said. Sirius strode past without a glance or a word.  
"What happened?" he asked Remus.

"Just come on," Remus answered. He led the way down the corridor at a light jog and slid to a halt outside of a door to a classroom that was no longer in use. They usually used it to hide from Filch when the need arose.

He opened the door, revealing the familiar dusty interior. The room was softly lit by balls of fire contained in floating glass jars. The walls were lined with stacks of desks and chairs. Broken baskets, old Quidditch supplies, and oddly a pair of shoes had been thrown in here. Peter sat cross-legged on the floor, sitting very close to Mary Macdonald. Eilidh was pillaging through the cabinets. There was a blonde in Slytherin robes, staring at the wall in front of her, twiddling her thumbs.

"James, you remember Persephone from Ancient Runes?" Remus said, closing the door behind him. Eilidh jumped down from the cabinets. Peter stood. Mary cast a silencing charm on the door.

"Yeah, sure how's it hangin'?" James smiled. Persephone smiled back and gave a small wave. "Persephone, this is Sirius Black, Sirius this is Persephone Machault."

"Nice to meet you," Persephone smiled.

"Pleasure," Sirius said, stiffly. "Remus, what is going on?"

"Ask them, mate," Remus said.

"Eilidh, we told you we don't trust Slytherins," Sirius said.

"Right, but she's friends with Mary and we trust Mary," she responded.

"I should probably just tell Professor Slughorn anyway," Persephone mumbled, taking a step toward the door.

"No," Mary said, placing a hand on her arm to stop her. "Guys, Steph's cool. She's just trying to help."

"This is really something the professors should take care of," Persephone argued.

"All they'll do is 'look into it,'" Eilidh rolled her eyes.

"Then I'll go to Dumbledore," Persephone argued further.

"He'll take away Hogsmeade from all of us," Mary protested.

"Would someone just tell us what's going on!" James demanded.

"Machault overheard a conversation," Eilidh said, staring pointedly at Persephone.

"So!" Sirius said, irritably after a moment's pause. Persephone groaned.

"I was in my common room, on my way outside when I heard someone talking on the stairs up to the boy's dormitory," Persephone said, sending one last venomous look to Eilidh. "They were talking about smuggling something in from Hogsmeade. I'm not sure what but it sounded dangerous, like a dark object or something."

"Did you see who it was?" James questioned.

"No, I kinda got out of there as soon as possible. It's not really safe for the Slytherins either," Persephone said.

"Could you recognise any of their voices?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not sure, but I thought one of them might have been this guy, Abbot. But he's Head Boy, he wouldn't -"

"Yeah, I'm sure Malfoy wouldn't either," Sirius said, bitterly.

"Did you hear anything else from their conversation?" Remus said.

"Er, yeah. They kept talking about this other guy. They never said his name though, just said 'him' and 'he.' It was actually kinda creepy," Persephone said.

"It sounds like…" Eilidh started.

"You-know-who," Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you don't think…. At Hogwarts! That's ridiculous! I … I mean it's Hogwarts," Mary said with fear etched into her face. "Eilidh, what is this?"

"It's true Mary, they're here. I think it started with Malfoy last year. He was just recruiting but now it seems like they're actually making a move," Eilidh said.

"Listen Machault, you can't tell anyone else about this," James said.

"Maybe she should though," Mary said.

"Mary, you were just telling her not to," Eilidh said.

"Yeah, but if they _are_ Death Eaters… Eilidh look what they did to your dad and God knows how many others!" Mary argued.

"I know what they've done, Mary!" Eilidh yelled.

"I am going to go to Professor Slughorn and tell him what-" Persephone interrupted, seeming to want their argument to end.

"I've been to the professors before, they won't do anything. They'll look into it, that's all. We don't have enough evidence for them to do anything," Eilidh told her.

"We can stop them from smuggling anything in," James said with sincerity.

"This is ridiculous! Peter tell them they're being stupid," Mary demanded, turning to where Peter stood against the wall, watching the ordeal.

"I-I er…," Peter stuttered.

"The professors will not be able to do anything about this," Sirius said sternly.

"He's right, you didn't see anyone," Remus said. "They _might_ question Abbot but there's really not much they can do."

Everyone feel silent while they waited to see what Mary and Persephone would say next. Persephone looked at Mary. Mary shrugged and quickly looked away.

"Fine," Persephone breathed. "But that's it, we're not participating in your… whatever you wanna call it."

"We wouldn't ask you to, it'd be too dangerous for you," Remus said.

"Right, now that, that's sorted, Mary would you like to see if we can make it in time for dessert?" Peter said.

"Yeah," Mary said quietly. "Come on Seph."

"We'll make a plan for Hogsmeade, tomorrow morning before breakfast. Meet us in our dormitory, yeah?" James asked Eilidh as he and Remus followed them out.

"I'll be there," Eilidh promised.

Sirius stayed behind because he didn't feel like continuing his argument with James. He didn't know why Eilidh stayed. That was until the door shut behind Remus, leaving them completely alone.

"So what's with you?" she asked, jumping up onto one of the countertops again. "You seem upset."

"Do I? I thought I was downright cheerful," Sirius said. Eilidh simply smiled and waited for him to continue. He sighed and jumped up next to her. "I joined the Slug Club."

" _Why_?" Eilidh said, looking completely baffled.

"I promised I would," Sirius shrugged. "It's not the worst thing, I just didn't want to do it. Maybe it won't be so bad."

"Yeah, maybe," Eilidh said, weakly. She stared across the classroom looking deep in thought. "You only promised that you'd join the Slug Club, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't quit. That'll be worse than if I didn't join," Sirius answered.

"So get kicked out," Eilidh said.

"Something tells me that that's not gonna be easy," Sirius chuckled.

"Maybe it will be," Eilidh said. "You've been invited to his next party right?" Sirius nodded in response. Eilidh's eyes were alight with excitement, a grin stretched across her face. "Okay, Lily said that someone important's coming to that one, someone he's keen on making a good impression on. You just have to sabotage it and he'll never invite you to one again."

"It's gotta be something good, though," Sirius said, his foul mood finally seemed to be dissipating.

"We'll think of something. And I'm sure James can help," Eilidh said.

"Oh, he's in it too, he'll help," Sirius said.

"Great," Eilidh grinned, jumping down from the countertop again. "There was a rumour of treacle fudge out there. Let's see if it's true."

Sirius grinned and stumbled after her.

* * *

 *****Splash of Thunder in Mist, I'm glad your here. :) Hope you continue to enjoy. XO**

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 *****I feel like this one was pretty long, hope it was worth the read.**

 **All rights reserved to JKR**

 **Thanks for reading. :D**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	32. Machinating

**Warning: Language**

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" _James Potter truly does have a brilliant mind…. Don't you dare tell him I said that it'd go straight to his head!"_ \- Eilidh Nicnevin, later that night.

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Chapter 7 of Year 4: Machinating

"Stop grumbling, Sirius, and enjoy the sunrise!"

"Enjoy the sunrise! That is the most bullshit line you've ever said."

Conversations like these often slipped through the cracks of Remus's unconsciousness. He was getting used to it; the three of them messing around at the crack of dawn. Now he was able to slip blissfully back to sleep without bother. This day of all days was not the day to fall back to sleep though. They had to plan, to scheme, to machinate if you will, to stop the Slytherins from bringing in some deadly, dark object.

He was back in the first stage of his REM sleep when he was reminded of this by someone knocking briskly on the door. He groaned, decided to get up, and ripped apart his bed curtains in time to see Peter scurrying to the bathroom, Sirius scrambling toward his bed yelling for James to wait, and James, completely ignoring his wishes, hurrying toward the door.

He opened it, revealing Eilidh, as bright eyed and bushy tailed as James, grinning her good morning.

"Morning," he smirked and stepped aside allowing her in. (Morning people are truly the worst.) James and she suddenly burst out laughing. He turned and laughed too. It was indeed a funny sight: Sirius Black, clad only in rainbow coloured pants, hopping around to keep his balance while trying to get a shirt, he had obviously thought were trousers, off of his foot.

"Mate I think shirts go on your upper half," James laughed.

"Thanks, Patches, I had no idea!" Sirius growled.

"Aw, don't worry. We still think you're cool," Eilidh teased.

"Oh shut it and turn around will you?" Sirius shouted, finally getting his sleeve off of his ankle.

"As you wish, Ace," Eilidh said, spinning on her heels. James laughed again.

"Lupin, get up, we've got work to do," Sirius ordered, spotting him grinning smugly behind his bed post.

Remus got up, though he knew most of the work was already done for them. Sirius and James had pushed their beds together and spent most of the night whispering by the light of their wands. He was only able to fall asleep when they stopped to sneak down to the kitchens.

With Peter out of the bathroom, Sirius with his shirt and trousers on correctly, Eilidh allowed to face them again, they sat in a circle in the middle of their dormitory. James and Sirius had roughly mapped out Hogsmeade.

"See this is where we come in," James said pointing, unnecessarily, with his wand to the beginning of Hogsmeade.

"And most of the seventh years spend the day in the three broomsticks, here," Sirius said, pointing to the pub.

"Right, but for their purposes, it'd probably be best if they did it somewhere less populated, like Hog's Head," Eilidh said, matter of fact

"We're getting there, Nicnevin, wait your turn," James scolded. Eilidh gave a very sarcastic apologetic look.

" _Like Eilidh said,_ " Sirius said, powering through, "Hog's Head is most likely where they are going to be. But also, we need to watch the post office and… James thinks Hogsmeade station is a good idea too."

"No one pays it any attention, it's a perfect spot for them," James argued, seemingly for the millionth time.

"You can be the one to cover it then," Sirius said.

"I wanted Hog's Head," James protested.

"No one wants the station," Sirius hissed.

"I'll take the station," Peter groaned.

"Good lookin' out, Pete," James grinned.

"He only took it because he doesn't want to hear you whining," Sirius told him.

"I'm not whin-!"

"OKAY!" Remus bellowed, silencing James and Sirius. "We have a guest, who probably thinks you two are completely barbaric without the squabbling. We're sorry, Eilidh."

"It's fine," she smiled. "So, Peter's at the station. What're the rest of us doing? I don't think it's a good idea for me to be in the Three Broomsticks. If any of my friends see me, they'll want to talk then I'll get distracted."

"Kay, Remus you wanna take the Three Broomsticks?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded his agreement. "Alright, Eilidh you take the post office. James and I'll take Hog's Head."

"Er… maybe we should separate you two," Peter said, carefully. Remus felt his stomach drop. He knew what Peter meant, they hadn't stopped fighting since they came back to the picnic last night, even while they were making this map. He just didn't think pointing it out was going to do any good, especially in present company.

"What do ya mean, Pete?" Sirius asked, sounding oblivious but there was an obvious threat in his facial expression. Peter looked panicked as his eyes flashed between Eilidh, James, and Sirius.

"I'm gonna go use the lavatory," Eilidh said, quickly catching on. She jumped up and practically ran to the door.

"We need two people in Hog's Head, it's the most likely place," James said after she left.

"Peter's right, though. Unless you get over whatever _this_ is, we should probably put you with someone else," Remus said, speaking to both of them. It was obvious that they were avoiding each other's eye.

"There's nothing to get over, Remus, Peter," Sirius said, eyeing them both.

"Right, it's just friendly banter," James smiled, weakly.

"So, what happened last night, after you talked to Professor Slughorn?" Remus said, sounding casual but the truth was, he was really worried.

"Nothing, Sirius just revealed what he truly thought of me," James said, airily.

"And James proved that he is incapable of keeping promises," Sirius said, voice full of venom. "AND that he's overly sensitive!"

"Right, being called a pathetic idiot by my best mate is something I should just brush off!" James yelled.

"THAT WAS A JOKE!" Sirius yelled back.

"AND I BARELY TOUCHED HIM!" James returned.

"This is obviously more than just friendly banter," Peter muttered while Remus pushed Sirius, who was muttering about showing him exactly how he 'barely touched him,' roughly away from James.

"Sirius, _calm down,_ " Remus ordered. Sirius stopped fighting him but he was still visibly furious. "James, who did you get into a fight with?" James clenched his jaw and rested his folded arms on his knees, looking like a pouting first year.

"I didn't fight anyone," he said, through clenched teeth. Sirius scoffed. "I should though!"

"You point your wand anywhere near him-!" Sirius yelled.

"NEAR WHO?" Remus yelled over him.

"REGULUS!" Sirius bellowed. "This… knob head thought it'd be a good idea to start a fight with my brother!"

"OY! Your brother's a prat and you know it, and watch who you're calling knob head, knob head!" James yelled, jumping to his feet.

"Ooooh! Great comeback, Potter," Sirius said, matching his pose.

"Oh, it's Potter now is it?" James said, looking more furious than ever. Sirius had called him Potter plenty of times, Remus didn't know why this meant something more.

"It is your name, isn't it?" Sirius returned, returning his glare with full force.

"I-I'm sure you and your brother can work things out," Peter said, quietly.

"S'not the point, Pete," Sirius said.

"So what? You're just not gonna be friends anymore?" Remus asked, truly fearing the answer.

"No," Sirius said, instantly but a split second later his confidence fell. He looked at James, desperately.

"Course not, don't be stupid," James said. An awkward silence fell. James scuffed his bare foot against the floor. Peter nudged Remus's arm and gestured for him to fall back. Sirius massaged the back of his neck.

"You're not pathetic, mate," Sirius mumbled, apologies were not his strong suit.

"Yeah, suppose I could have handled Regulus better," James shrugged.

"Just… leave him to me s'all," Sirius said. James nodded, his lips twitched into a nervous smile as he looked at him. Sirius returned it shortly, sighed and crossed over to the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door and Eilidh peaked her head out.

"It's safe," Sirius said, waving her back into the room.

"Okay, so where are we with the plan," she grinned, skipping back into the room. ( _Fucking morning people!)_

"Same, you're in the post office, Remus - the Three Broomsticks, Peter's at the station, and Pickles and I are in Hog's Head," James grinned.

"Pickles? Is that why you guys were fighting?" Eilidh smirked.

"Pickles is an awesome nickname," James said, folding his arms and feigning offence.

" _All_ of our nicknames are terrible," Peter said, looking directly at James.

"Traitor," James mumbled.

"We should probably tell them about the signal, _Patches,_ " Sirius said.

"I actually kinda like Patches," Peter smirked.

"We'll talk about your treachery later! _Pickles_ and I found a way to signal each other if any of us spot Abbot," James started.

"It's a charm that'll give a really high pitched whistle sound," Sirius said.

"It was warned that we shouldn't use it indoors 'cause it might melt your brains or something," James added.

"That sounds pleasant. Can't wait to use that," Remus said.

"It's pronounced _Strideo_ ," Sirius said.

"We should be able to be heard from the station to Hog's Head," James said.

"Won't everyone be able to hear it?" Eilidh asked.

"Yeah, but they won't know what's going on, and it might distract Abbot long enough for us to take whatever he's picking up," James answered. Eilidh nodded. As always the plan was a bit shoddy but given the information they had and the time they had to do it in, Remus supposed it was actually quite brilliant.

"Okay, okay. This might actually work," Eilidh said, looking excited.

"Of course it'll work!" Sirius smirked.

"It had better work. I'd rather not find out what Abbot's planning on doing with… whatever it is," Peter said.

"It will! Merlin's pants Pete, her I get, but you've known us for four years," James said.

"Not all of your plans have worked, mate," Peter said.

"Okay!" Eilidh said before James could return the insult. "Let me leave before you have another go."

"Wait, wait, wait!" James called, just barely catching her arm. "There's one more thing we need to ask you."

"Potter, I've got to finish my potions essay before second period and I haven't even started it yet. This better be quick," Eilidh warned.

"It will. We just need you to use your connections with Slytherin to find out who else is working with Abbott," James said.

"Why don't you just ask Regulus who he hangs out with?" Eilidh asked.

"He's only a second year," James said, barely scraping the surface of the problem.

"We'd do it ourselves but James and I start Quidditch practice tonight, Remus the slacker, is already behind on assignments, and Peter's doing research on Billywigs - possible prank for the Slug Club," Sirius winked, "so unless you want to be stuck in the library, neck deep in Newt Scamander's most famous works-"

"Spare me please," Eilidh said, rolling her eyes. "I'll see what I can find out, but I'm not promising anything. I had to fight Machault tooth and nail, just to get her to see you four."

"Don't tell 'em it's for us," James shrugged.

"By now they know I'm with you," Eilidh said. "I'll figure something out."

"We could probably do it around practice if you'd like us to?" James offered.

"She said she could do it, mate," Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, but-"

"I've got this. You just work on kicking ass in Quidditch this year. If we lose to Hufflepuff again, I'm holding you personally responsible," Eilidh threatened, poking his chest with her finger.

"Okay, they had plenty of time to find a replacement!" James argued, making them laugh.

"Alright, I'm off to do my essay. See you sods in class," Eilidh said and smiled and waved as she left the dormitory.

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 ******* **Two chapters in one week?! I know super weird but I had to make up for missing a month. Please accept my apology and don't hate me. I love you!**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **All rights reserved to the Queen of our lives JKR**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	33. The not so strong Bond of Blood

**Warning: Language**

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MaH chapter 8 of year 4: The not so strong bond of blood

It had been a productive morning already. His fight with James was over and done with. Their Hogsmeade plans were set in stone. Eilidh had seen him in his underpants and he nearly died of embarrassment. Now Sirius stood not two feet from the Slytherin table, utterly alone, antsily tapping his fingers of his left hand on his thigh, his right he kept in his pocket clutched on his wand. His eyes scanned the faces of the sea of people moving into the Great Hall.

Sirius wasn't looking forward to talking to his brother. He felt a little guilty about it. He wasn't really involved in Regulus's life anymore, even at home. He didn't know what classes he took, or who his best friend was, or even if he was any good at magic. He had overheard a conversation between two _Hufflepuffs_ that Regulus had tried out for his Quidditch team. Merlin knew if he made it or not.

He saw Regulus just as he was walking through the door. He was talking with a boy around his age that Sirius had never seen before. He was a Slytherin and Regulus was usually seen with Ravenclaws (at first he thought it was his form of rebellion but then he found out that they were the only purebloods in his age group.)

"Regulus!" he called, waving his arm to be sure he caught his attention. He lurched forward, not wanting to catch any more Slytherin vibes than was necessary. Regulus's face had fallen when he realised who had called his name. "Who's this?" he asked, smiling brightly at the pair of them.

"Barty," Regulus answered stiffly.

"Barty Crouch Jr," said the kid, sticking out his hand. Sirius took it and, for courtesy's sake, withheld an eye roll. "And you are?"

"Sirius Black," he answered wondering if Slughorn's special guest might be Crouch Sr.

"My brother," Regulus muttered. "Barty, why don't you go sit with Avery over there, he's nice and this won't take long." Sirius choked back a laugh. _Avery! Nice!_

"Okay," Crouch smiled. "Nice to meet you."

They watched as Crouch made his way over to where Regulus had pointed.

"So what? The kid can't make his own friends?" Sirius asked, trying to make a joke.

"He's terrified of making friends," Regulus said, turning to face him with a look of pure loathing. "He's only a first year and people like you and your _friends_ made his life a living hell because he's in Slytherin and he's a pure blood."

"Hey, I've never even seen him," Sirius defended.

"Like that would have made a difference! In fact, it probably would have made it worse," he said, venomously.

"Come on, he seems like a nice kid," Sirius laughed trying to cover how much his words actually hurt him.

"He is. It's a pity anyone would treat him like that," he responded, dryly. Sirius fell silent not really knowing what to say. It's not like he did anything to him. Regulus sighed, deeply and seemed to relax a bit. "Look, I'm not gonna lie for you but I won't tell her anything she doesn't ask about, Potter included. You're only invited to the Slug Club but that's the first step. She'll be fine with that for now."

"Thanks, Reg. And I promise that won't happen again, not from any of my friends. If anyone else gives you any trouble, I'll take care of it," Sirius said, sincerely. Regulus was still his brother even though he was a prat.

"I can take care of myself! How bout you tell your friends to back off the rest of us?" Regulus asked, with an accusatory glare.

"Because some of them deserve it," Sirius said, his irritation growing at an alarming rate.

"You're so fucking full of it," Regulus scoffed, turning to leave.

"Okay, wait. Maybe you're right, maybe they are _nice_ ," Sirius said, but only to keep the peace between them. Regulus rolled his eyes and looked extremely inconvenienced but stayed. "So how is Mum anyway? Still worried about granddad?"

"Of course she is," Regulus answered bitterly, probably remembering last year when he had made a joke about it in front of everyone. "I think he might be getting worse," he said with a sigh. "She hasn't actually said it, but she tells me less and less whenever I ask so it's kind of obvious."

Sirius nodded, not really sure what to say. He hated his grandfather. He remembered being deathly afraid of him whenever he came to visit. He was relieved when he found out he was too ill to travel and would be spending the rest of his days with Aunt Elladora.

"You're going to Slughorn's party, right? With the 'special guest?'" Sirius asked, trying to fill the awkward silence that fell.

"Of course, yeah. It'd be weird if I didn't, considering…." Regulus stopped and looked at him awkwardly. A sudden feeling of dread fell over him.

"Considering what?" Sirius asked.

"Er- the guest. Mum told me. It's er… Amoriel Lestrange. You know, Mum's cousin Araminta's daughter?" Regulus said.

"Yeah, I know who she is."

He had only met her once when he was 10. His parents threw a party to send him off to Hogwarts. She came and killed his cat. It was a memorable experience, he wasn't likely to forget her anytime soon.

"Brilliant. Thanks, Reg. Tell Mum I said hi," Sirius said, striding quickly away before he could ruin a relatively peaceful exchange.

* * *

 *****Djinns78, thank you for your review. :D I'm glad you've liked what you've seen so far and hope you continue to. XO**

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 *****I got a bunch of new people who have favourited/followed and I just wanted to say a quick thank you and you're awesome and welcome to my insane version of the Marauders era. XO**

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 *****Hello again,** **you're probably annoyed with me by now because this is my third time posting in a week, but this chapter's short, like _really_ short. ****And it reminds everyone that Regulus is more than just a pompous, racist prick. I mean he killed himself tortuously for a house elf (yes, I'm sure he had other reasons but it's what put him over the edge.)**

 **Isn't J.K. Rowling brilliant? I mean she made us fall in love with these incredibly minor characters. UGH, Queen, my hat's off to you! (as if she reading this, HA!)** **You'll have to excuse me I'm kind of obsessed with idioms right now.**

 **Did anyone get my reference to chapter 11?**

 **Btw (and a quick cannon reminder,) Amoriel Lestrange is an OC but her "mother" - Araminta Meliflua, was legit Sirius's mother's cousin. Apparently, she tried to make muggle hunting legal. Sounds fun right?**

 **Kay, I'm done.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Until next time (maybe I'll actually wait a week this time,)**

 **XO**


	34. Operation Borgin & Burkes Stage1 Abbott

MaH chapter 9 of yr 4: Operation: Borgin and Burkes; Stage One: Abbott

Madam Wryn has been the Hogwarts librarian since 1892, though most of the students liked to make jokes about her being at Hogwarts since it was founded. She was extremely old and looked even older, especially when she fell asleep in her cracked, brown leather armchair. Not even the screaming books in the restricted section could wake her the. They tested it, Eilidh and Lily had, in their first year. Not purposefully, but when Madam Wryn had drifted off they saw an opportunity to get into the otherwise constantly watched, forbidden thus extremely tempting, restricted section. They opened one book, it had screamed an ear-splitting, gut-wrenching scream, and they tucked tails and ran. Madam Wryn was none the wiser. Lily and Eilidh had made a pact to never step foot into the restricted section for the rest of their Hogwarts careers.

There was a rumour going around that Madam Wryn would be retiring at the end of the year. The thought of it being true made Eilidh sad. She didn't know the woman of course, but her experience with librarians on a whole made her have a bit of a soft spot for Madam Wryn. Librarians -normal librarians, were usually cross. Madam Wryn was the exception. Maybe it was because she was almost always fast asleep but she never seemed to care about how much noise they made, or if they opened a window, or how many books they checked out as long as they were returned on time.

Even now, when Madam Wrynn's eyelids were only starting to droop, everyone, with the exception of herself and Josie, was talking amongst themselves. Josie had her nose practically touching a book called _The Official O.W.L Study Guide_ , with ink smudges on her chin and hands. Remus and Peter were off in a corner laughing behind their books, parchment covering their table. She laughed to herself. Sirius had said it was either this or she'd be stuck in the library researching Billywigs and now look where she was: stuck in the library, with a copy of _Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them_ propped up on her knees, pretending to research Billywigs. She had to say she was researching Billywigs though, their venom was used in potions and she had yet to finish that essay.

She wasn't even turned to the right page, Nifflers was where she was at. They were cute, kleptomaniac, platypus looking creatures. There was a short story that Scamander had written along with it that had never failed to make her laugh.

She leant forward, wrote 'venom makes you float' on her parchment because that was about the only thing she knew about Billywigs, and checked on her targets. Persephone Machault was discussing the Goblin war with Mary MacDonald and her dorm mate Emma Fawley.

Snape was whispering with Lily, about what she didn't know. Their books were kept open on the table, their voices were low. He looked angry and defensive. She couldn't see Lily's face but could tell she was tense by the way she held her shoulders. Eilidh wondered if she should interrupt, give Lily an opportunity to bow out gracefully. It was Snape she needed to talk to anyway. She'd rather it wasn't but things were awkward between her and Machault since she had forced her to talk to James and Sirius. She didn't really blame her, it would have been a lot worse between them if it had been the other way around.

Eilidh closed her book, deciding it would be best for both herself and Lily if she interrupted their argument. She was too late though. Lily stood, gather her things, pushed in her chair, and spun around, flicking her hair out behind her. She gave a tight smile as she strode past, noticing that she had been watching. Merlin, she was livid. Eilidh decided to find her after she talked to Snape.

"I'll see you later, Josie," she said. Josie jumped, shocked by the sound of her voice but returned to her studies without reply.

Eilidh made a slow show of returning her book to its proper place, trying to see what Snape was reading. It was a black leather-bound book, its pages mouldy and crinkled. There was a picture painted on it, but she couldn't tell what it was. She stood on her toes and leant forward on the table, pretending to reach for one of the higher shelves. It was a diagram with bloodied knives, bird bones, fire, and gruesomely decapitated snakeheads.

He caught her looking and stuffed the book inside his bag. It didn't matter though, she could spot dark magic from miles away and that stuff was old, sacrificial, dark, _dark_ magic. No wonder Lily was so teed off.

"Hey, Severus, would you mind getting that book down for me? It's just a bit out of reach," Eilidh said innocently, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach. Snape stared at her with a completely demeaning expression on his face, pointed his wand at the book she had indicated and it flew off the shelf and into her hands. "Thanks," she smiled. Snape turned away and continued packing his things. "So, how's it going?"

"Lily left," he answered.

"Ohhh, that's why she's not here," she drawled out, trying not to sound annoyed. "Where'd she go?"

"Guess she went to find that bloke that asked her to the ball," he shrugged, shifting through his parchment.

"That Ravenclaw, right?" Eilidh asked, hoping this would start a conversation.

"She thinks he might actually be in Hufflepuff. No one seems to know him in Ravenclaw," he answered, sounding annoyed.

"No one seems to know him, period. It's a bit odd, don't you think?" she asked. He groaned in response.

"You do know where the Hufflepuff house is, right?" Snape asked, swinging his book bag over his shoulder.

"I do, but I actually wanted to talk to you," Eilidh said, quickly. Snape turned to look at her, his eyes narrow, jaw tight.

"I don't really have the time," Snape said, sliding one foot toward the door.

"It'll just take a second," Eilidh said, quickly and took the seat Lily once sat in. "See, there's this guy in your house that… well, this is kind of embarrassing. Promise you won't tell anyone," Eilidh demanded, sounding like a giddy school girl.

"I… don't really care," Snape said, taking one more step toward the door.

"Pleeaase, Severus! I'll convince Lily to give up on that Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff guy," Eilidh said, smiling innocently. Snape's cheeks flushed pink.

"I don't really care about that either," snapped Snape as he spun around.

"Alright, you don't care! I get it, but I'm desperate here. I'll do anything," Eilidh said, trying to catch up with him.

"I don't really want anything from you either," Snape said, venomously.

"Okay, but how hard is it to just answer some questions about a bloke in your house? That's all I want!" Eilidh argued, running to keep up with him. He was fast for such a sickly looking boy.

"I don't give a damn about what you want!" Snape yelled, successfully beating her out of the library.

"What if I could get Potter to back off of you?" Eilidh offered. Snape turned around and stopped in front of her so suddenly she almost fell trying to stop herself from running into him.

"I don't _need_ anything from you," Snape snarled, inches from her face. Eilidh's heart raced in her chest, her palms were sweating. Her wand was in easy access, hanging from a holster attached to her belt. She could have her wand in her hand in a second and stupefy him in three. The problem was she knew he was faster.

"Okay, sorry. I was just trying to create a you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours scenario," Eilidh said, taking one slow cautious step backwards. Snape glared at her, his eyes wandering over her, sizing her up. She clasped her hands behind her back, away from her wand, delaying her defence by two seconds. She was trying to look non-threatening, hoping Snape's defences would lower. She knew a nonverbal spell that would send him flying backwards, it gave her a spare second but that was all.

"Who the fuck is this bloke?" Snape asked, venomously and refused to meet her eye. His change in attitude startled her. She relaxed her stance.

"Erm, Abbott. He's head boy," she said, softly, eyes wandering over him, studying him. He had turned away from her, his head bowed as if ashamed but his jaw was still tight, and his brow frowned, his arms crossed over his chest. He was still irritable. She still needed to be careful.

"What about him?" he asked, urging her to be quick.

"I just-" she paused, wondering if she should just outright ask who he hangs out with or continue with her original plan. He was suspicious of her, she had to be careful. "Was wondering if he had a girlfriend or something, someone he was taking to the ball?"

He looked up at her, that demeaning expression on his face again. She took a deep breath, begging her pride and temper to not get the better of her.

"He's seeing an older girl, someone who's already graduated," Snape answered.

"Oh, okay. Thanks," she smiled, weakly. He gave her one last look over then turned abruptly and stalked away. She watched him go, her heart still pounding in her chest, her hands trembled. She didn't know how Lily could handle being around him for so long.

"You handled that well," said a quiet hoarse voice from behind. Eilidh jumped and spun around, her adrenaline spiking. It was only Remus, standing with Peter, watching the ordeal from the Library doors. It was a wonder why neither her nor Snape realised they were there. Or maybe that was why he had backed down. "The door wasn't completely closed when he started yelling. Thought we should come see if you needed help."

"I was the one that made him mad in the first place," Eilidh shrugged, feeling exhausted now that her adrenaline had worn off. She walked toward them dragging her feet as she went.

"Yeah, but you also calmed him down pretty quickly. You did good," Remus smiled.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Just wait till Sirius finds out you've got a crush on Abbott," Peter grinned.

"That was just my cover story! I had an actual plan," Eilidh told him, irritable though she didn't know why.

"Sure, Nicnevin. We believe you," Peter teased. She couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face.

"So did he tell you anything?" Remus asked. "I mean besides the fact that Abbott's got a girlfriend."

"Er...no but I still have Machault," she answered, feeling guilty for failing to complete her task. "Things are a little weird between us right now, but I think I can get her to talk."

"Okay, well you go ahead and talk to her and Pete and I will get started on plan B, just in case," Remus said, smiling.

Peter looked up from a parchment he held in his hands, apparently startled, and asked; "We have a plan B?"

"Yes, I just thought of it. It honestly should have been Plan A but I didn't know she was talking about Snape," Remus answered. "We will still need you for Plan B, so… just wait for us in the library, we'll come to you," he told Eilidh.

"I'll be here," Eilidh promised.

"The Plan B that should have been Plan A?" Peter question.

"Yes. Peter," Remus answered shortly and led him toward the marble staircase.

Though Eilidh was still frazzled from her episode with Snape and wanted nothing more that to just curl up on her bed with Marlene's kitten and a nicked butterbeer, she had a job to do and God be damned if she should fail to do it. She took a deep breath and marched back into the library with her head held high, feeling immensely more confident now that she had the safety net of Remus's "Plan B."

Machault had not moved from where she had last seen her, sitting with Mary and Emma Fawley. Their topic of conversation had changed from the goblin war to that of the Alum Ball. Leave it to Mary to change the topic from something as unromantic as goblins to what had been voted as the most romantic night of the year (and it hadn't even happened yet.)

"All right, Mary? Machault? And erm… Emma right?" Eilidh greeted. She didn't actually know Fawley and thought it'd be more polite to introduce herself. "I'm Eilidh," she said, smiling and shaking the girl's hand.

"Nicnevin right?" Fawley asked in a constricted tone. Eilidh nodded. "I know you."

Eilidh ignored the awkward silence that fell and the fear in Fawley's eyes hidden behind her vacant expression. It was a reaction she had come to expect when meeting those of wizard families. The name Nicnevin had long been tied to werewolves which usually invoked fear in the faint of heart

"We were just talking about the Ball," Mary said, smiling brightly but she turned her body ever so slightly so that Fawley was out of the circle.

"Right, you wanted to get a dress in Hogsmeade," Eilidh said, facing Machault.

"Mmmhmm," was the only response she deemed to give though she had no problem staring at Eilidh with a venomous expression. As previously stated, things were weird between them.

"You should wear something short. It'd make your legs look great!" Eilidh grinned, feeling a little smug. Persephone Machault was easily the tallest girl in their year. It was a fact. Unfortunately for Persephone, she was rather self-conscious about it. That was also a fact widely known because she had hexed a fifth-year boy for calling her a giantess. Eilidh knew it was wrong to use this against her. She couldn't help it. She didn't like Machault in the first place especially when she kept looking at her like she was plotting her murder.

"WOW! Thanks for the advice," she smiled wryly, still not breaking eye contact.

"That's what I was trying to tell her," Mary said. "You'd look _gorgeous_."

"I'll just see what they have there first. After all its Hogsmeade, not London," Machault said, rolling her eyes and grinning at Mary.

"You know, I think I'm gonna go. Catch you later Seph?" Fawley said, suddenly. Mary had pushed her so far out of the circle her voice startled them.

"Hang on, I'll come with you," Machault said, quickly.

"Actually, _Seph,_ I wanted to ask for your advice on something. Unfortunately, Mary can't help," Eilidh said, keeping her expression pleasant. "And… sorry but it's kinda private," she said when she noticed Fawley was going to wait.

"Anything you wanna say to me you can say in front of her!" Machault declared, icily.

"Fine." Eilidh was only thinking of Machault in the first place. She knew how protective the Slytherins could be about members of their own house. "You remember what we talked about last night with-"

"Yes, I do. No, nothing has changed. No, I'm not planning on changing anything. And if that's all," Machault said, turning quickly to leave, grabbing Fawley by the arm.

"That's not all," Eilidh said, stopping her in her tracks.

Machault sighed deeply and her shoulders slumped. "Em, could you just... wait for me outside?"

"What!?" Emma exclaimed, drawing the attention of several students.

"It'll just take a second," Eilidh said, trying to reassure her. Machault waved a hand to shut her up.

"It's just… kinda embarrassing, what she's talking about," Machault muttered. Fawley looked at all three of them, clearly insulted.

"Alright. I'll be outside," she said and turned to leave. They waited until they heard the library doors close before speaking again.

"What?" Machault asked, through gritted teeth.

"We need to know who Abbott hangs out with. It could be anyone but probably not someone he was seen with today," Eilidh said, speaking quickly, wanting just as much as Machault did for their contact to end.

"I don't know! He hangs out with everyone. He's actually kinda cool," she answered and in response to their strange looks said; "before he got creepy. Take a chill pill."

"There's no one else that might be considered creepy?" Eilidh asked.

"Not that I can think of," Machault shrugged, innocently. Eilidh studied her face, looking for anything that might suggest that she was lying but she couldn't find any. Eilidh sighed. She was disappointed in herself. She wondered what James would say when he found out.

"Okay, thanks. If you remember anything or hear anything more just come and find me," Eilidh requested.

"Yeah, I will. Sorry, I couldn't be more help," Machault said, suddenly gentle.

"No, it's fine. You've already helped a lot," Eilidh smiled to reassure her. Machault nodded and walked away.

"So, you're still working with Potter?" Mary whispered.

"Did you expect me to change my mind?" Eilidh gave her half smile, knowing that Mary was only concerned.

"Kind of. I was hoping you'd go shopping with us," Mary shrugged. Eilidh grinned.

"Maybe they'll be time left over," she said, hopefully. "And remember, as far as Lily knows I'm with my brother the whole time."

"Right. Doing something geeky in the quill shop," Mary laughed.

"Exactly. Thanks, Mary. I've got to go and execute Plan B," Eilidh said, giving Mary a salute and a grin and marched off to wait for Remus and Peter outside the Library doors.

* * *

 *****ravendor42, thank you. I had a feeling something was wrong I just couldn't put my finger on it. This will be fixed asap. XO**

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 *****Oh hey, its just me waiting by my computer for your stamp of approval.**

 **sorry if you hated it because of OCs or just this OC in particular but this was kinda necessary if you wanna keep up with operation Borgin and Burkes. Things will go back to the Marauders POV in the next chapter, cross my heart.**

 **Thanks for reading. :D**

 **All rights reserved to JKR**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	35. Stage One: Abbott plan B prt1

MaH chapter 10 of year 4: Stage One: Abbot; Plan B pt1

The map had changed a lot since Peter first showed them his creation. Several passageways were added, including the one under the Whomping Willow (against Remus's wishes.) The Hufflepuff's password was added. Peter had added the Slytherin's password using the same enchantment he used for the Gryffindor's while he was alone; he seemed to like knowing something that they didn't. James and Sirius were so excited they didn't even ask how it was done, they just jumped right into planning a prank (a big one) they called Operation Snake Purge.

Only one name appeared on the map. Albus Dumbledore was usually seen pacing in his office or, like James and Sirius, having a midnight snack in the kitchen. (Thankfully James had his invisibility cloak so they had yet to be caught.) No one else had been added to the map, not even Filch. James asked to add Lily Evans. Peter laughed and called him a perv. No one had seen the map since. That was until Remus suggested they add Phineus Abbot.

Never in all of his 14 years of living did Remus think he'd be arguing with Peter about writing the name Phineas Abbott in a homemade map of Hogwarts. Nor did he think he'd ever call _Peter Pettigrew_ stubborn. He especially did not think he'd be yelling "He could potentially kill everyone, Peter!" to win an argument but, these were dark times.

It seemed to work. Peter's stubbornly set jaw slacked a little. His arms fell from across his chest to the waistband of his jeans. He had previously stuffed the map down his pants when Remus first suggested figuring out Abbott's exact location.

" _Only_ because it's life or death," Peter said, pulling the parchment out of his pants and handing it to Remus. Peter snatched it back quickly. " _ONLY_ Abbot. Not Snivellus. Not James and Sirius. Not even he-who-must-not-be-named himself!"

"Don't be ridiculous Pete," Remus said, kindly. Peter gave him a "threatening" look and finally handed over the map. "I really doubt 'he-who-must-not-be-named' is his real name." Remus grinned at Peter as he moved to the writing desk.

"Ha. Ha." Peter rolled his eyes. He watched him from over his shoulder as he scrawled out _Phineus Abbott_ in the middle of the castle. "You remember the charm?" Peter asked nervously.

"Yes, I do Peter. Don't worry," Remus said, spreading the parchment out carefully over the desk, flattening its creases.

"It's just - if you don't remember it we could wait for Sirius. He did it last time," Peter said.

"Your faith in me is truly reassuring, Peter, thank you," Remus said, brandishing his wand over the parchment. He took a deep breath and blocked Peter's voice out of his head. Steadily and very slowly he moved his wand in a counterclockwise motion over the entire parchment, carefully enunciating the words " _hominum locus"_ causing Abbott's name to fade and disappear. He smiled victoriously at Peter, the enchantment worked. Phineas Abbott reappeared outside of the castle located on the Quidditch field.

"Do you think he's spying on their practice? James is gonna go mental," Peter said.

"We'll soon find out," said Remus storing the map in the pocket of his jumper and they scurried out of their dorm heading back to the library.

Eilidh was already waiting for them outside of the library, sitting against the wall with a book balanced in hand as the other idly twirled her wand between her fingers.

"Anything new?" Remus called, slightly worried that she wasn't waiting inside the library like he said.

"No, Machault doesn't know anything. She said everyone he hangs out with is 'cool' " she said and scrambled to her feet. "Are we ready for Plan B?"

"Yeah, we've just got to go down to the quidditch pitch, I've got a bit of a hunch that he'll be there," Remus told her.

"Just casually chillin' with his partners in crime?" Eilidh said, looking doubtful.

"We do it," Peter shrugged with a sly smile.

"He'll have to see them sooner or later, we go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. He'll want to make sure everyone's ready," Remus said, confidently. He was judging this based solely on the fact that it's what James and Sirius did every time they planned a big prank. Everything was always triple checked the night before. Of course, Abbott was older and probably working for an evil mastermind so, like James and Sirius, he used confidence to mask his doubts.

"Alright," Eilidh nodded and started toward the front door.

Abbott was crouched under the stadium watching the practice through the gaps in the stairs with the Slytherin's Quidditch captain, Johnie Waters. She was meticulously taking notes, her hand barely pausing for a moment as her head shot between the players and her notepad. Abbott watched them practicing with a mild expression on his face and never failed to give his criticism. "Dirk Cresswell must have been dropped on the head as an infant," he would say. Johnie, if she acknowledged his comments at all, would snort or chuckle but she always kept her eyes on the team. Remus wondered how her neck could bear to be in that position for so long. His hurt and he didn't even have to look so far up.

The sun had gone down about an hour ago. The stadium was lit with white fluorescent lights. James was having the time of his life. Sirius was bored out of his mind.

Cresswell had split the team into two which seemed to be Marlene McKinnon's punishment for not practicing all summer. He put her up against James with himself as beater and Sirius (who, despite his boredom, was an excellent keeper.) Marlene had the new beater Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Frank Longbottom as a Keeper (let's just say there's a reason why he was actually a Chaser.) It was cringe-worthy and difficult to watch. Remus doubted that Johnnie Waters was getting anything good out of it, yet every time she looked down she was scribbling furiously on her notepad.

"What do you think she's writing?" Remus asked, interrupting the silence between the three of them for the first time since they left the castle.

"That Marlene never looks over her right, Longbottom's got a weak wrist, probably from breaking it last year, and that Sirius is a lazy sod," Eilidh answered.

"He doesn't like being Keeper," Remus defended.

"Clearly," Eilidh said in an undertone. As much as he hated to admit it, he saw where she was coming from.

Since the game started, Sirius had taken to seeing how many weird positions he could get himself into on his broom without falling off. He started with a simple elbow on the handle, chin resting in hand position, then he was hanging upside down (he almost missed the quaffle three times before Cresswell yelled at him,) and now he was laying on his back, one leg hanging loose the other perked up on his broomstick, both hands folded behind his head.

"He's never going to stop anything that way. OY BLACK!" Eilidh screamed. Remus was not at all surprised that Sirius could hear her. His head shot up and he was actually grinning as he waved at them. "MOVE YOUR ARSE!" And he did, just not in the way she wanted. Instead, he spun around and flew towards them landing gracefully at her side.

"What are you lot doing here? You're supposed to be doing research," he said.

"You're supposed to be guarding the damn posts," Eilidh said, her voice too loud to be considered normal conversation though she was not yelling… yet.

"You're supposed to be gathering intel," Sirius returned. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Completely wasting our time," Peter sighed moodily. He was sprawled out, on the other side of Remus with his arm thrown over his eyes, trying to block out the light.

" _We_ are spying," Remus said.

"Yes, the Slytherins are paying us. Seems we've completely lost our self-respect and morals," Eilidh said pointedly and inclined her head in the slightest bit, moving Sirius's attention to where Abbott was under the stairs now watching them instead of the team. Sirius's eyes flickered and he grinned.

"Is she one of them?" he whispered.

"Don't think so and _she_ said he was only talking to boys so it's not likely," Eilidh answered in a low voice. "You need to get back out there! Cresswell's gonna kick you off the team if you keep acting like this!"

"I haven't missed a Quaffle yet, don't get your knickers in a twist," Sirius said then continued in a whisper, "So what're you doing here? What did you find out?"

"Nothing, except he's got a girlfriend outside of Hogwarts, which is obviously not serious considering how close his hand is to her arse," Eilidh whispered back. Remus was starting to get nervous. Abbott had whispered something to Johnie. She took a quickly glance over her shoulder then turned back to the game, apparently uninterested. Abbott, however, still watched them intently.

"So you're tailing him?" Sirius whispered and Eilidh nodded.

"Sirius, you really should get back out there," Remus said in a loud voice.

"He's right. And stop messing around! You've got a responsibility to the team _and_ the house, so don't muck it up," Eilidh said, pushing him a little.

"I'd like to see you get out there and do it without getting bored," Sirius snorted.

"From what I've seen I could fly circles around you," Eilidh said, haughtily.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! IF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW I WILL MAKE SURE EVERYONE IN THE SCHOOL KNOWS ABOUT YOUR RAINBOW PANTS!" James yelled, chasing Marlene at top speed. Sirius didn't waste a second more. He jumped on his broom, flew as quick as he could but instead of cutting in front of Marlene, he cut in front of James. Marlene, with a smug grin, continued forward and threw the quaffle through one of the hoops. James pushed Sirius back in front of the posts and gave him the finger before diving for the quaffle. He tossed it to Sirius who tossed it back, setting it back into play, and flew to the other end of the field, raising higher as he went. He curved toward the stadium and soon he was directly overhead. Remus assumed he was dodging Marlene's advances. Then James did something that was completely un-James-like. He dropped the quaffle. Marlene dived for it and, instead of diving out in front of her, he circled her seeming to want to slow her down or throw her off course.

This all made sense though when the quaffle landed directly on the step Abbott and Johnnie were hiding under. Johnnie screamed. Abbott started and hit his head. Then they scrambled over each other, trying to beat each other out from under the stadium. By the time the quaffle was rolling on the grass the were out and running back to the castle.

"Hey, Captain!" Sirius called, distracting Cresswell's attention from Kingsley Shacklebolt. "A couple of snakes were spying on our practice!" Sirius pointed to Abbott and Johnnie's fading forms. Cresswell turn following his direction spotted the pair and flew forward in a blur bring the rest of the team with him.

Peter was on his feet before Remus could even register what was bound to happen. All three of them ran down the stadium's steps, across the field, and just barely met the team as Marlene was pushing Cresswell out of the way.

"I'll do it if you refuse to hex a girl!" she spat dangerously holding the tip of her wand to Johnie's throat, her free hand pulled on Johnie's wrist holding her still. James, Sirius, and Frank held Abbott at wand point, his wand had been thrown somewhere to the left of him.  
"McKinnon stand down!" Cresswell ordered, one hand reached out for Marlene the other was placed firmly on Kingsley's chest. Marlene made no move to do as Cresswell asked. "Marlene, you'll have extra laps for a month if you don't let her go!"

Marlene, with a moment's hesitation, released her hold on Johnie's wrist and slowly stepped away from her, her wand still pointing to her throat.

"Thank you," Cresswell said as she fell to his side. "The rest of you, let Abbott go. He's not even on the Quidditch team."

"Dirk are you daft?!" Frank said in disbelief.

"Cresswell, we can't just let him go!" James protested.

"Yes we can and we will if any of us want to play Quidditch," Cresswell said firmly. At the threat James and Frank, reluctantly, lowered their wands. Sirius, however, kept his on Abbott's chest.

"He really doesn't give a damn about Quidditch," Eilidh muttered.

"Black," Cresswell said, trying to sound firm but it came out more like a plea. James nudged Sirius in the ribs and only then did he lower his wand and pushed Abbott away with enough force to send him stumbling and almost falling backward. For a second it seemed as if he would stay, but eyes flickered from the back of Johnie's head to Cresswell's eye, and he turned to leave, fetching his wand along the way.

"Johnie, what are you doing here?" Cresswell asked as if Johnie had merely been caught in the wrong toilet.

"Just came to see an old friend play, Dirk," Johnie said smoothly.

"'Old friend'?" Peter muttered. Remus shrugged.

"Right, taking notes on his performance," James said, hotly.

Johnie smiled, a humorless smile and made no remark but Remus noticed that she held her hand firmly over her left pocket as if trying to stop something from falling out. Her fingers curled around whatever was inside and she flashed narrow eyes directly onto Eilidh.

Eilidh had her wand out and pointed to Johnie's pocket. She paused when Johnie looked at her, smiled toothily, and said loudly and plainly, " _Accio notebook_!" The notebook flew through Johnie's clutches and into Eilidh's waiting hands. Johnie's vehement exclamation and insults for Eilidh went ignored as she opened the notebook.

' _Captain fails to control team_ ,' she read out loud, ' _especially new members- Black #9, keeper and #3, beater_ \- that's Shacklebolt. _Seeker not at practice._ _#5, chaser_ \- that's Marlene - _unobservant, right. Potter#4 - chaser, overconfident. #6 chaser -_ Frank _-_ _weak wrist. Black #9_ \- is a lazy sod."

"It does not say that!" Sirius interrupted, heatedly.

"It basically does!" Eilidh yelled back.

"Enough!" Cresswell said, silencing them both.

"Yes, sir. You'll be wanting this, reckon you'll find it useful," Eilidh said, handing the notebook to Cresswell.

"Thanks. Johnie, I'm sorry but I'll be seeing Slughorn about this," Cresswell said, turning back to Johnie who, throughout the whole ordeal, was quite expressionless.

"Of course you will," Johnie said and tossed her head and strode away. Cresswell sighed heavily and waited until Johnie was well enough away before beckoning his team closer.

"Can you believe her?" James started, staring venomously at Johnie's small receding form.

"She's a gutless snake but she's right," Eilidh said.

"You think I'm overconfident!" James said, indignantly.

"Why not, she thinks I'm a lazy sod," Sirius added.

"Enough!" Cresswell ordered. "You, you're not on the team so you can shut it," he told Eilidh. "It was a good practice, better than I was expecting. We'll talk more about it on Sunday - don't forget it's an early morning practice. Alright, Frank, you were late so you can stay and help me clean up. The rest of you have a good time a Hogsmeade and don't forget nothing stronger than butterbeer."

"Sure, Cresswell," James smirked, probably remembering when he found him half drunk on firewhiskey last term.

"Get out of here and shower for the love of God, you all smell like trolls!" Cresswell laughed.

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 *****DorthyNightingale thank you! Please do keep reading! and I hope you continue to like it. :) XO**

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 *****Shout out to my new followers/favoriters! Stay gold.**

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 *****In case you didn't notice, this only part 1 of 2 of Remus's brilliant plan B. I'll try to have part 2 up quickly but no promises.**

 **Please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Your opinion would be deeply and dearly appreciated. Of course, I am much obliged to you for simply reading, so thank you even if you choose not to share.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO***********


	36. Plan B prt2

*****Prepare yourselves for the longest. chapter. ever.**

 **Warnings: Language and maybe an unnecessarily long chapter (idk you tell me.) XO**

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" _The risk would have made it more fun for James."_ -Sirius Black, fire of the Gryffindor Common Room, 1995

Chapter 11 of year 4: Stage One: Abbott Plan B prt2

It was hard to say exactly how ideas came to James Potter but he always seemed to have one. He was always struck with some grand epiphany or another that usually led to mischief, trouble, and - in the common unlucky circumstance - detention. Perhaps these unlucky circumstances weren't uncommon because James always admitted to his wrong doings. There were few exceptions, as there always are, but they usually involved a greater cause. Like when they got caught stealing Mandrake leaves from the greenhouse. He had lied through his teeth then but the Mandrake leaves were for Remus. For the most part, James Potter owned his shit. There was never any cover up or excuse, he'd simply raise his hand and say "that was me."  
Those were two of the things Sirius liked best about James. Maybe it was because of this that he'd always raise his hand and say "me too!"

That's what James liked best about Sirius. He always had his back no matter the risk. So that is why, when he watched his feet stride firmly across the stone floor of the Entrance Hall and he saw his laces slowly coming untied, he thought of tripping, then he thought of falling, and of course he thought of how funny it would be to see other people fall, he only thought of the immediate and most probably consequences and he grinned.

He stopped in his tracks not wanting to leave the Hall and grinned some more. Sirius, whose attention he'd gained by his abrupt halt, was instantly intrigued and ready for what was to come. He arched his brow, enticing James to share his idea.

He looked around before he did, checking to see that the various doors surrounding them were still intent on staying shut then said in a hushed urgent voice;

"Remember that charm you were teaching the second years at tutoring last year? The freezing charm?"

"Yeah, I had to re-write my potions essay from scratch because that little berk -" was his response. James, deciding that they didn't have time for a backstory because the Quidditch team and chosen victims were bound to approach at any moment, interrupted him.

"Do you think we could use it to freeze the Entrance Hall," James said conversationally while smirking.

"I don't … maybe if we… James Potter, you'll be the death of me," Sirius said, suppressing a smile. He took out his wand and got to work, spraying water onto the floor then quickly freezing it. James watched him do it a second time to make sure he knew how it was done then started in the opposite direction.

Before long they were separated by a frozen sheet that gleamed in the light of the fiery torches. James stood on the marble steps while Sirius clung to a suit of armour for balance. They grinned at each other, proud of the work they had done.

"Try it out, see how slippery it is," Sirius whispered up to him. It wasn't necessary. He could see Sirius's feet fighting for traction beneath him. It did look like fun.

James gingerly placed one foot then another onto the icy floor. As he let go of the bannister he began to slide toward Sirius as if on an incline.

"Excellent," he grinned. He leant back just enough so he'd slide faster and ended up colliding into Sirius. They both laughed resulting in them losing their balance and falling onto their bottoms which only caused them to laugh more. Their voices ricocheted off of the stony walls of the Entrance Hall. Oddly it sounded emptier than it had before they added ice.

They were so wrapped up in their own amusement that they didn't realise the volume their laughter produced. As consequence the night was no longer quiet; the castle began to stir, ghosts floated from room to room with as much rigor as they did in the day, professors left their offices to look down their respective corridors, Mr Filch began to prowl, studious students were momentarily distracted from their books though they quickly returned. However, there are always students who were up to no good and it was those students who came to inspect. The first was a friendly face.

Eilidh Nicnevin, startled by the noise owing to the fact that she was left alone in a dark and deserted corridor, came to find the source. She peered through the door to the left of them that led to several classrooms. Upon seeing that it was merely her partners in crime she let the door swing creakily open so as to announce herself.

The boys looked up from their positions on the floor and were startled into silence. The candlelight reflected in her eyes adding a sparkle to them, it added colour to her usually pale complexion and a shine to her hair. Under normal circumstances they found her to be quite plain but in this setting, she looked rather pretty.

"James, I think we might have to sack her. This is the second time tonight I found her slacking off," Sirius said sounding earnest but there was a distinct twitch in the corners of his mouth.

"I was actually waiting for Remus and Peter to come back. They had some mysteri-AHHA! Whoa-" her statement was finished by a groan of pain and a whispered string of swears. She had taken one step into the Entrance Hall and fell flat on her back having not noticed the fresh ice on the floor. Being chivalrous Gryffindors, James and Sirius slid laughing toward her to help her to her feet. They had to hold onto each other for support to stand.

"Thanks, Nicnevin, you just confirmed that our plan is foolproof," James smirked. Eilidh nudged him playfully but still caused him to fall and bring her and Sirius down with him.

There was a chaotic moment when they all scrambled to untangle their limbs and struggled to get to their feet. At best they would make it to their knees before falling again. They laughed through the chaos, their voices rising again like a chorus of fun and the castle stirred once more.

"Sirius get off of me!" Eilidh screamed with laughter. Sirius had landed on her in a painful looking position. He made to get up but thought the better of it and said,

"Hang on!" He grabbed her arms and pinned them at the sides of her head. "Take it back first."

"Take what back? Sirius get off," she laughed, trying to wriggle her arms free of his grip.

"Say I'm not a lazy sod," he said, trying to look firm but there was no denying the grin on his face.

"I'll take it back when you actually try to be a good keeper," Eilidh said defiantly. Sirius arched an eyebrow, smirked, then attacked her waist, tickling her to the point of screaming. James caught hold of her arms and held them away from Sirius so he could continue with his torture. "Alright! Alright! You're not a lazy sod!" she screamed. Immediately, Sirius stopped, James let go of her arms, and they looked at each other smugly. Eilidh got to her feet and, now perfectly balance, made her way to the bannister. While she did she shouted back, "you're just a stubborn sod with lazy tendencies!"

"Why you-" Sirius shouted after her. He got to his feet, pulling James with him and they both chased the laughing Eilidh up the stairs.

They had reached the top before they realised that her mood had changed. She was suddenly alert and fearful. She watched the corridor to the right as she hid in the shadows of the left and she pulled them behind her so they too would be hidden by the darkness.

They tried to peer around her to see who the figure making their way towards them was but the corridor was too dark. It didn't seem the time to ask questions even whispered ones so James and Sirius both stayed quiet and watched as the dark figure grew closer and listened as Eilidh's breath hitched with every quickened step the figure took.

The beginning and end of the marble staircase were lit by a torch's flame so as the figure grew nearer they began to realise who it was. It was unmistakeable. The spindly body hidden under loose, baggy muggle clothes. The hair so greasy it looked wet. The pallid face of Severus Snape shined under the light of the torch as he turned to make his way down the marble steps.

James tried with every ounce of self-control in his being to not make their presence known. They had much bigger problems than Snape to deal with tonight. Yet, as he tried to make his mind focus only on Abbot, the image of Lily and Snape's embrace from the night before broke through. Still, he clenched his fists and held them firmly at his sides while he bit his tongue, determined to stay quiet.

"Are you afraid of Snape, Eilidh?" Sirius whispered, sounding slightly amused.

"No," she said defensively. "I've just run into him enough for one day."

That was enough for James. Eilidh, despite her objections, was clearly frightened by Snape's sudden appearance. The thought that Snape had done something to make a girl who runs around with werewolves afraid of him pushed him over the edge.

"All right, Snivellus?" James said loudly as he stepped out of the shadow. He pushed Eilidh's attempts at stopping him off and stepped into the light. Snape didn't recognise his voice at first. He turned around with a haughty sneer on his face until he saw James and Sirius standing atop of the stairs then, much to James's satisfaction, a look of fear fell over him.

"Where ya goin'?" James asked, sounding nonchalant. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and clutched his wand.

"None of your business," Snape said quickly and turned away. He marched down the steps two at a time.

"Oh, don't be like that. We're just trying to make friendly conversation," Sirius grinned. He and James followed Snape down the steps.

"James! Sirius, come on we've got to get Remus and Peter!" Eilidh said, lurching out of the shadow and after them.

"Yeah, that's where we're going, but I wanna know where Snivellus is going," James drawled. He smirked as Snape quickened his pace.

"As I said, it's none of your business," Snape said, his voice tight. James's smirk widened as he neared the last step.

"Well, wherever you're going, I hope you have a nice _trip_." James bit his lip in anticipation, his eyes focused on Snape's feet. Severus, in his haste to get away, decided to skip the last step and jump. He fell, instantly, forward. He was quick enough to catch himself. Sirius snorted and James grinned wickedly. Snape pushed himself up but lost balance and he flailed about trying to find it again. James and Sirius fell into a fit of laughter. Eilidh, who stood rigidly behind them with her wand in hand, looked as if she wanted to laugh but for whatever reason held herself back.

Snape fell again, this time landing on his face. He used the bannister to climb to his feet. He faced the three of them with a look of the utmost contempt, his face red with anger.

"What the hell was that?" Snape sneered.

"Don't blame us for your shoddy equilibrium," Sirius laughed. Snape glowered at him.

"Idiot," he breathed.

There was a blinding flash of light. Snape flew back very suddenly and with enough force that would suggest that someone had punched him in the chest. James had attacked. Sirius, after realising this, whipped out his wand. When Eilidh realised she took a step forward, intent on pulling James back. James, however, moved forward before she got a chance to touch him.

"Insult my friend again, Snivellus, and I'll kick your arse," James said, threateningly.

"I'd like to see you try, Potter," Snape snarled, getting as quickly as he could manage to his feet. James moved forward once again but this time Eilidh caught him by the back of his robes. Sirius pulled on her arm, trying to set him free.

"Why is it that there's always a girl around to save you?" James snarled after struggling to break free.

"One of these days it'll be just you and me, Potter, then you'll see," Snape said, ominously. Then he did something that surprised James and Sirius. He walked away, towards the door that led to the dungeons. He still looked furious. His knuckles were white as he held his wand tightly in hand, his jaw clenched, his nostrils flared, his eyes hard and focused on the path in front of him.

"See what? You falling on your face again! Think I'd pay to see that, wouldn't you James," Sirius laughed, trying to goad Snape into responding. James was too stunned to reply. He had hurt him and embarrassed him and all he got was a half arsed threat. He was deeply unsatisfied. He hoped that Snape would at least say something back to Sirius but all they heard in return was the door slamming shut behind him. The exchange initially meant to calm the beast that was awakened in James, only angered him more.

With Snape gone, Eilidh finally let go of him. Sirius and James both turned back to look at her. James with a look along the lines of the 'what-the-hell-is-your-problem' sort and Sirius with a blank face, a look he reserved for when he was expecting to be scolded.

"Well, let's get it over with," Sirius said, crossing his arms. Eilidh eyed James reproachfully and James never broke eye contact even when she turned to face Sirius.

"Get what over with?" she asked, moving through the space between them and stepping out onto the ice.

"Whatever you have to say about Snivellus. We're idiots and arseholes and whatever else," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. Eilidh stopped her sliding steps and turned back to them.

"I don't know _what_ to say," she said carefully.

"That's a first," James scoffed, stepping towards her.

"It's just - he's Lily's friend," she said definitively.

"Yeah, great friend he is," James returned, sounding like he blamed her for Snape and Lily being friends.

Instantly recognising Eilidh's defiant expression and James's still edgy mood, Sirius strode forward, towards the door from where Eilidh came and said loudly, "Where did Remus and Peter leave you, Eilidh?"

"The lavatory," she said shortly.

She kept her eyes on James even as they walked down the corridor. Sirius decided it would be best to let them have a moment alone so he jogged ahead and disappeared behind the door that led to the toilets. James huffed and sank into the wall, avoiding Eilidh's eye.

"I don't like him, you know," Eilidh said, suddenly, "Snape. He's… well, he's something else."

"That's a nice way of putting it," James snorted. Eilidh sank down next to him.

"I see Lily's side of things and for her, I can't stand by while he's in an unfair fight," Eilidh said. James nodded slowly and took a moment to think about what she said.

"I never thought of that," he said. "Sorry."

"S'okay," she smiled.

"You erm… you said you ran into him earlier today. What happened?" James asked, trying to sound casual.

"Oh, I just… I thought he might have some information on Mr Hogsmeade," Eilidh said weakly. James nodded to indicate that he understood that she meant Abbot. "He didn't really like me asking him questions, probably because he thought I was spying on him, to begin with… which I guess I was."

There was a moment's pause.

"I really hope you didn't draw too much attention to yourself," James said. He tried to keep any aggression he might have out of his voice but his emotions were still running high and if she had caught too much attention she could have possibly ruined the mission.

"I don't think so. I made it look like I had a crush on him. Which by the way, if Peter says anything, is not true," Eilidh promised, a smile playing on her lips.

"Good to know," James smirked.

"James, we've got a problem," Sirius said, coming out of the toilet with Remus and Peter in tow

"What happened?" James asked.

"He's er, well he's in his common room," Remus answered and looking at Eilidh added, "sorry for leaving you so long by the way."

"All right, do we know the password?" James said, looking at Peter.

"Yeah, but -" Peter said.

"Then we're fine," James shrugged. "Lupin, be a mate and get my invisibility cloak will you?" James sent a subtle smirk to Eilidh.

"James, I'm not your house elf. Besides we all can't fit under there," Remus said.

"Remus Moon-"

"Don't."

"child Lupin! I would never consider you to be my house elf! I simply requested that, as my mate, you'd run upstairs and fetch my invisibility cloak from the you-know-where in my you-know-what," James said, simply.

"Are invisibility cloaks even allowed at Hogwarts?" Eilidh asked, incredulously.

"Welcome to the vigilante club, we have access to the kitchen," Sirius grinned.

"I am not-"

"Remus please," James said, pouting his lip, "I'm all sore from Quidditch."

"You're all sore from sitting on a broom?" Remus muttered stomping toward the door. "If I go out there and find Peeves waiting with a cream pie there will be hell to pay!"

"There's no point in you going now anyway. Listen," Sirius said, holding a finger up. There was a definite sound of a large group of people making their way to the front doors of the castle. "I think it's about time for the Quidditch team to show up."

They all hurried forward and hid behind the door, waiting for the unsuspecting Quidditch team to walk into their slippery fate.

Marlene came first. Her body was completely turned toward those behind her as she laughingly agreed with someone's joke. Then she slipped. Frank Longbottom and Kingsley Shacklebolt caught her before she hit the ground. Cresswell had the misfortune of running into them. All four of them fell landing in a pile of tangled bodies. Their exclamations of pain and insults to whoever's elbow was in their ribs or whose knees had hit their face echoed loudly enough to cover the laughter of the guilty party.

What it didn't cover was Filch angrily stomping down the steps as he yelled for them "shut it! Or it'll be-!" Filch fell head over feet before he could finish his threat. He spun, screaming and with his legs in the air, across the floor.

Peeves flew in overhead, laughing and singing a crude song about Filch being sprawled on the floor. Filch sputtered and spat with anger.

"Good evening," said a very calm, stern voice. Silence fell almost instantly. Peeves floated in the air, a thoughtful look crossing his grinning face, then disappeared with a loud pop. The Marauders and Eilidh crept into the Hall. Everyone looked at the tall man wearing purple robes embroidered with gold stars, waiting for him to speak. "You seem to be having some difficulty walking across a usually very steady floor."

"It was my idea," James said, stepping further into the room.

"An interesting one at that," Dumbledore returned with a hint of a smile that made his moustache twitch.

"I helped," Sirius said, moving next to James.

"No doubt," Dumbledore nodded, his eyes twinkling.

"Professor," Remus said, feeling compelled to defend his friends, despite his sweaty palms and dry throat. "That haven't actually broken any school rules."

"It's destruction of school, property Professor! Don't let him fool-" Mr Filch yelled, his legs shook as he tried to find his balance.

"Thank you, Argus. I assure you, I won't," Dumbledore said sternly, and Mr Filch fell silent. He turned back to James and Sirius. Both had adopted a look of pure innocence while Remus remained expressionless beside them. "I will not be taking away house point," he started. Every Gryffindor in the room breathed a sigh of relief. "And because you did not, I assume, intend to harm anyone with your-"

"Practical joke."

"Harmless prank."

"Good-hearted fun."

James and Sirius suggested.

"Yes," Dumbledore smiled. "I will not be giving you detention," James and Sirius sighed in relief while Filch made a noise of disgust, "and thus ruin your streak of good behaviour. You have done very well this year."

"Thank you, sir," Sirius and James said together.

"You're welcome," Dumbledore nodded. "However, as Mr Filch has kindly reminded me, this is destruction of property and cannot go unnoticed. Therefore, you will get up early tomorrow morning and clear the ice away. 6:00 should give you ample amount of time, would you agree?"

"Yes, sir," James and Sirius mumbled. Filch groaned and muttered his way to his office.

"Very well. Everyone, please return to your dormitories, it is almost curfew," Dumbledore said. He stepped onto the ice and slid gracefully across the room. "Good night," he said and disappeared behind the doors.

"You had better not get yourself kicked off the Quidditch team again, Potter," Cresswell threatened. The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Relax we didn't even get a detention," James shrugged and led them up the stairs toward Gryffindor tower. "Any chance a brilliant seventh year like you knows a good spell to get rid of a room full of water?" James asked, conversationally.

"Try _Evanesco._ I've only used it on small things, mostly cauldrons but it might work," Cresswell said, heavily. Upon reaching the common room he finally said, "Listen, Potter. I know you're just having fun."

"Mate, we'll be careful. Trust me. I _don't_ want to lose quidditch. We'll be toeing the line this year. Right, Sirius?" James promised, nudging his friend.

"Yea totally. We'll be right on the line," Sirius agreed.

"And not a hair out of place," Cresswell ordered, pointing a finger at both of them. He turned to leave before they could respond. Frank passed with a smile and a nod while rubbing a lump on his head. Kingsley Shacklebolt passed with an awkward grin.

"If I have a bruise on my bum because of you two, you'll wake up to find your hair blue," Marlene threatened.

"An interesting response, McKinnon. You've always made a worthy opponent," James nodded and crossed his arms. Marlene eyed him then turned with a flick of her hair to stomp across the almost empty common room.

"If I find any of my butterbeer missing Eilidh-" she shouted.

"You'll know it wasn't me because I haven't been up there since this morning," Eilidh said, talking over her. Marlene huffed, flicked her hair again and stomped up the steps toward the girls' dormitories.

"Right, you lot should get to bed too," James said, herding Peter, Eilidh, and Remus toward the dormitory steps.

"Um, I still have a job to do," Eilidh argued.

"You've done enough today. Sirius and I haven't done anything except class and Quidditch. It's our turn," James said, conclusively.

"We can't let you have all the fun, Nicnevin," Sirius smirked. Eilidh eyed him looking slightly put out.

"You need to be at full strength for tomorrow, there's likely to be a good fight," James grinned, leading her with an arm around her waist toward the girls' dorms.

"Right," she said, her voice flat and expressionless.

"How are you at duelling anyway?" Sirius asked.

"I can hold my own," Eilidh shrugged.

"Good. We'll meet you in the Entrance Hall after breakfast," Sirius said, opening the door and waving her through the threshold. She eyed both of them, looking stubborn and resolute.

"You're lucky I'm tired, or there'd be a heated argument about this," Eilidh said.

"I've come to expect nothing less," Sirius smirked. Eilidh passed through the door then turned back to look at them.

"Just because I'm a girl-"

"Remus and Peter are going to bed too," James said.

"We'll see," Remus muttered. James and Sirius smiled, ignoring Remus's remark and waited until Eilidh started up the stairs before herding Peter and Remus towards their dormitory.

"What happened to we're all in this together? We're all apart of this group. We're with each other 'till the end?" Remus argued, fighting against Sirius pushing him up the steps.

"That's why we're doing this," Sirius grunted.

"Sirius and I have done next to nothing all day, Remus," James said and helped Sirius by pulling on his arms. "Besides, your furry little problem tends to wear you out."

"Oh, don't give me that rubbish!" Remus yelled in a whisper as he strode through the door of their dormitory.

"I know it sucks, but it's true," Sirius said, gently.

"The full moon was weeks ago and the next one is far enough away that its effects haven't started yet. I am at my prime," Remus argued.

"You are tired because we keep waking you up early in the morning," James said.

"Peter and I are going," Remus said, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm actually really tired. And I have to wake up early to keep up with this animagus thing," Peter said, apologetically.

"Thank you, Peter, for being reasonable and responsible. Please don't forget to set your alarm," Sirius said.

"See, Remus you need to stay and make sure Peter doesn't sleep through his alarm. If he doesn't we'll have to start this whole thing over and you'll have to deal with our vow of silence again," James said. This seemed to break down Remus slightly. He glared through narrow eyes and a tight jaw at the pair of them.

"What are you planning on doing anyway?" Peter asked.

"Just gonna see if he's in the common room. Then see who he talks to and what not," James answered.

"And if he's not there?" Remus asked.

"We'll spend the night there. Sirius'll finally get to see what it's like to be a Slytherin," James grinned. Sirius gave him a scathing look but said nothing.

"Have you actually lost your mind?" Remus asked, irritably.

"Yeah. If you spot it anywhere let me know," James joked, hoping to calm Remus's exasperation.

"Remus, that's enough! You'll go to bed even if I have to stupefy you into it!" Sirius said, firmly. James withheld a laugh. Peter shrank. Remus blinked rather quickly.

"Thanks, Dad, I'll take that under consideration," Remus returned.

"I'll do it," Sirius threatened, taking out his wand.

"All right," James said stepping up and forcing Sirius's arm down. "Remus be reasonable about this."

Remus clenched his jaw and stared James down seeming intent on burning a hole in his face. Neither of them backed down for several seconds.

"You're not spending the night in the Slytherin dungeons. Not after everything you've done to them," Remus said, firmly. James nodded.

"Remus you're being -"

"All right. We'll try to make it back before midnight," James conceded, startling Sirius into silent disbelief. Remus nodded.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered, digging through his trunk.

"Pete, could we borrow the map?" James asked, moving to his own trunk for his invisibility cloak. Peter moved quickly from his bed with his arm outstretched, his map in hand.

"Don't do anything to it," he muttered sleepily.

"Could we add a bit more to the Slytherin common room and stuff?" James asked, taking the parchment. Peter nodded, then snuggled back onto his pillow still in his school robes. James and Sirius moved quickly to the door while Remus growled and grumbled his way into bed.

"Night, Moonchild," Sirius said.

"Good night," Remus said shortly, then quickly rolled away from them, wrapping himself in his blankets. Sirius chuckled and James smirked.

They made their way back to the Entrance Hall, under the protection of the invisibility cloak. They did not touch the icy floor in case Dumbledore should return and thus know that they were out of bed.

They walked through the dungeons for a while, not quite remembering where the camouflaged door was hidden. Running out of patience, Sirius took the map from James, tapped it in the general location of the Slytherin's common room so the password ( _Carpe Noctem)_ appeared. He tapped the walls with his wand, muttering the password as he did until one of them slid noisily aside revealing a large, stone doorway.

"You don't think they heard-"

"Shhhh."

James pressed forward quickly forcing Sirius to clutch his robes so he'd stay covered by the invisibility cloak. They entered a room with rough stone walls that was lit with a green hue of round lamps hanging from chains on the ceiling. A fire was slowly dying under an elaborately carved mantelpiece straight ahead of them and two Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs.

"Was that the door?" Snape's voice came in a whisper as he turned slightly toward his companion.

"Hmm, I think it was the squid. Hagrid sometimes doesn't feed him so he doesn't forget how to hunt for his own food," Abbot responded, barely looking up from his book.

"Sounded like the door," Snape muttered, but returned to his book nonetheless.

Neither of them moved again for what felt like several hours. James and Sirius settled themselves in a corner out of the way of anyone who might venture through. No one did. They were bored, tired, and irritated because Abbot didn't seem to have any friends he'd be willing to commit an illegal and potentially lethal act with.

James had fallen asleep uncomfortably on Sirius's shoulder. Sirius was so bored he was seriously considering changing his hair to blue and attempting to convince him that Marlene had done it. It would be amusing to see how frustrated he'd get. Then Snape stood. Excitement bubbled in his chest. He nudged James awake. They watched Snape head up the stairs. James pulled on the sleeve of his robes, indicating that he should get up.

"What about Abbot?" Sirius said in a barely audible whisper.

"He hasn't moved. Probably asleep," James whispered back.

They edged forward, taking slow deliberate steps. Abbot shifted. They froze. He let out a soft snore.

"See," James said. They hurried up the steps after Snape, still careful to stay silent.

Snape's dorm room was very much like theirs. Sans the wall covered in embarrassing pictures, the only differences were the green and silver decor and their window was under the Black Lake. There was a grindylow with its face pressed up against the glass leaving James and Sirius to wonder if they could see through invisibility cloaks. They waited against the wall shadowed by one of the beds (just in case) for Snape to fall asleep.

When he was quite sure they had waited long enough, James tugged off the invisibility cloak and took out a bottle of Bulbadox Powder from his robes.

"Where'd you get that?" Sirius breathed.

"Nicked it from Filch's office awhile back," James grinned over his shoulder. He crept forward and sprinkled a generous amount of powder onto Snape's school robes.

"Reckon Avery needs some too?" Sirius asked, peering through the curtains of the neighbouring bed. James tossed the bottle into Sirius's waiting hands and watched as he set to work, getting not only his school robes but the inside of his socks too.

They flew out of the room as quickly and quietly as they could while suppressing giggles. Once back in the Common Room they found Abbot still snoozing in his chair, head resting in hand, abandoned book barely balancing on his knee. The thought of waiting for him to wake or for someone to come and get him was bleak.

"What if we just make a noise? Startle him a bit?" Sirius suggested.

"And risk him finding us here _with_ the cloak?" James challenged.

Sirius shrugged as if the risk was nothing more than a paper cut.

James moved forward, slowly. A small voice in the back of his head told him that the risk definitely was not worth the means. He couldn't stop though. It was as if something inside him was pushing him forward, daring him to find out if he could get away with it. He reached out a hand. He felt Sirius tense beside him, as if on edge. He watched as his hand floated in the air like it didn't have a body. His fingers pinched the sleeves of Abbot's robes and pulled quickly.

Abbot's head fell causing his forehead to smack into the arm of his chair. His book fell to the floor with an audible _thud._ Sirius choked down his laughter as James scrambled to get all of his limbs under the cloak while they silently moved backwards, crouching low so their feet were completely covered.

"Fuck, that hurt!" Abbot exclaimed, rubbing the reddened spot on his forehead. He looked once about the room, picked up his book, and strode angrily to his dormitory never knowing that he was being followed.

The light of day was muffled by the Black Lake and the algae that grew around the edges of the window. The water did allow waves of light in a greenish hue to silhouette the furniture of the dormitory giving the room an odd shipwrecked feel.

The problem was, James didn't know if sunrise had passed yet. He did know that he had woke up in a seventh year Slytherin dormitory only half covered by his Invisibility Cloak. Sirius had moved so much in his sleep that most of the cloak was snaked around his leg making it sort of a checkered board of visibility. He also knew that they needed to get out of their as quickly as possible or the Slytherins would have a very good motive for murder.

He kicked Sirius's shoe and pulled his cloak so it would uncoil itself from Sirius's leg. Sirius woke with a start, looking utterly confused by his surroundings. Neither of them had planned on falling asleep there.

Sirius mouthed, "Oh, shit!" and they clambered out of the dormitory pulling the cloak over them along the way. They had to dodge several Slytherins (mostly third years too excited about their first Hogsmeade trip to sleep in) mulling their way around the Common Room. They held their breath as they passed Professor Slughorn going into his classroom.

When they finally reached the Entrance Hall, James dragged Sirius across the still icy floor toward the large oak front doors, determined to know if they had missed the sunrise. He was delighted to see that the sun had not yet left the horizon.

"Thank Merlin," James breathed, pulling off the cloak, crumpling it up, and stuffing it into his pocket. James and Sirius took out their wands. They placed the tip of it to their hearts and chanted together, "amato, animo, animato, animagus," just as the sun had completely risen. They waited until the foreign heartbeat that sputtered inside them every time they performed the incantation vanished.

"That was close," Sirius said, panting. His second heartbeat was apparently extremely fast.

"Yeah, it was." James nodded in agreement. "I wonder how mad Remus is gonna be. We did promise him we'd be back by midnight."

"You did, mate, not me," Sirius said, striding back through the door.

"Thanks, Sirius, good lookin' out," James responded sarcastically.

They set to work on opposite sides of the room as they had last night. They cleared away the ice with a simple melting charm then a quick "evanesco" to stop the water from flooding. It was longer and harder than it had been to freeze the room but James supposed that that was the whole point of the punishment.

Slowly students started coming in for breakfast. Each of them would slow down momentarily to watch James and Sirius work. They would just continue on as if they weren't there unless they heard the door to the dungeons opening then they would pause to see who was coming but then they went right back to work. That was until they heard the person whom they had been waiting for coming through the dungeon doors.

"Don't be stupid, Will," Abbot said, sounding very sure of himself. James and Sirius ducked into the broom closet so they wouldn't be seen and watch through a crack in the door. Abbot came strutting in with two others in his year walking shoulder to shoulder some distance away from him.

"But, are you even sure he'll let us in if we somehow pull this off?" said one of his friends, his voice dripping with apprehension.

"When we pull this off, it will get his attention. Make him see that we're much more than what Malfoy made us out to be," Abbot responded.

"So we're not even getting in after this? Is it really worth getting expelled over?" the other said defiantly.

"Listen. I can't have you two mucking this up for me, so you need to make up your mind now," Abbot said, stopping to turn and look at them. The other two froze and looked at each other. "Barker, mate," he said, placing a hand on the scared looking one's shoulder. "You in?"

Barker's eyes shifted slightly toward the defiant one but he simply refused to meet his eye so Barker nodded, reluctantly. "All right! Saunders, mate…." Abbot punched his arm in a playful way.

Saunders looked around the room as if this were the last time he'd be seeing it and said: "Yeah, all right."

"Aces! That'll pay off, mates you'll see," Abbot said, enthusiastically.

"Bloody hell mate, it'd better," Saunders said, his voice fading in the noise of the Great Hall.

"Gits," Sirius muttered angrily and burst out of the broom closet. "We should just take them now. Stop any chance of them succeeding."

"Yeah, well, if we catch them red handed it'll get the teachers on our side," James said, stuffing his hands into his pocket. A large part of him agreed with Sirius. After all if they ended up in the hospital wing before they could make it to Hogsmeade they wouldn't have to worry about what would happen should they fail. However having the staff on their side for once would be a tremendous help.

"Yeah…. Man, I hope they get expelled," Sirius said, spitefully.

"Me too," James nodded then set to work again. "Let's hurry, I wanna tell Remus and Peter before breakfast."

* * *

 *****Hey Lou, thanks for your review and the compliments. Things will get better for Sirius... eventually. XO**

* * *

 *****I really hate that the chapter's this looonnngg. But I didn't want to cut out the scene in the Entrance Hall because it was a typical Marauders prank and I haven't written one of those in, well, _way_ too long. **

**As usual, I am desperately and pathetically eager to know what you guys think.**

 **Shout out to the new followers and favouriters. Thank you and welcome :)**

 **All rights reserved to you know who (dun dun dun)**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	37. Stage Two: Hogsmeade

Chapter 12 of year 4: Operation: Borgin and Burkes; Stage Two: Hogsmeade

The Entrance Hall was bursting with energy. Every student from third year and up was in the Hall eagerly awaiting the arrival of the carriages. Even the teachers seemed a bit excited as they chatted in their corner.

Remus kept his sights on Abbot and his friends. James and Sirius were busy pretending to shoot spells at each other, preparing themselves for a duel they felt sure would take place. Peter watched them, his face lit with amusement. Eilidh was waiting with her friends since she wouldn't be in Hogsmeade with them. She was talking avidly with Mary Macdonald and Josie Archer as Lily waved someone over.

Remus's stomach dropped when he saw who it was. It was Snape. Jealousy seemed to be getting the better of James recently, so Remus fixated his gaze on Abbot, determined to not let his friends know who was coming their way.

"Ahhhhhh!" James let out a sudden, agonizing, panicked yell as he fell to his knees. Snape stood over him looking confused and annoyed. Sirius took one threatening step forward.

"What'd you do to him," Sirius accused angrily. They were starting to gain the attention of the surrounding students. Snape looked even more confused with Sirius's wand in his face.

"I didn't-"

"He touched me!" James cried, clutching the front of Sirius's robes. Sirius lowered his wand, a smirk playing on his lips. He apparently found this amusing. "I've got his diseases now! I can feel it! It's spreading! I'm breaking out in-in… IN GREASE!"

People around them either laughed or turned away with a mild expression of annoyance. Lily started pushing her way through the crowd toward them. Snape stood froze on the spot, speechless and mortified.

"Don't touch me, you'll spread it!" Sirius yelled, pushing James off feigning disgust.

"Sirius, you have to help me!" James cried. "What do I do?"

"Ask Evans!" Sirius said, pointing at Lily bobbing her way through the crowd. "She's immune." James turned and waddled on his knees toward her.

"Shut up, Black," Snape snarled, in a low threatening voice. Sirius merely smiled at him as if daring him to make good on his threat.

"Evans, help-"

"Jump off a bridge, Potter," Lily said, savagely. She took Snape's hand and pulled him away from the scene.

"That sounds fun. Sirius put that on our bucket list. You're welcome to join us, Evans!" James shouted after her, getting off his knees.

"What was that, Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked firmly as she came up behind them.

"Oh, nothing but a bit of fun, Professor," James smiled, not seeming at all innocent. Peter covered his laughter with a coughing fit. Sirius grinned crookedly, his arm resting on James's shoulder.

"I certainly hope it was that and nothing more," McGonagall said, severely.

"But of course," James grinned toothily. Professor McGonagall eyed all four of them then swept briskly away. James, Sirius, and Peter burst out laughing.

"That way the funniest thing I've seen in while, James," Peter gasped.

"You all are terrible," Remus said, firmly. The crowd around them began to shift and thin, most hurriedly headed toward the front doors. Remus allowed himself to be swept along, not knowing what else he had to say to his friends.

"Oh, come on Moonchild!" he heard Sirius shout after him.

"Yeah, moonbeam it was only a joke," James added.

"Lighten up, Moony," Peter said. He heard the distinct sound of James's cackle before he was swept out the door and down the steps.

He hurried along, too angry and a bit nervous to face his friends. He made sure to save a carriage directly behind the one Abbot chose and focused on controlling his emotions.

"What was that?" Eilidh demanded as Lily and the rest of them strode past with their noses in the air, looking determinedly in the opposite direction.

"I don't know. James was having a laugh I guess," Remus muttered.

Eilidh sighed, angrily. "You'd think he'd be a bit more sensitive to what Lily wants considering."

"Considering?" Remus said, offering a hand to help her into the carriage.

"He's got a crush on her doesn't he?" she answered. "I'm not riding with you. Lily thinks I'm going with my brother I'd like to keep it that way."

"How do you know that? That James has a crush on her?" he asked, taking a seat in the carriage.

"Please. James Potter is the most obvious person I've ever met." She rolled her eyes and stared into the sea of people rushing to get a carriage. When she spotted James through the crowd she tensed.

"Eilidh did you see? Snape walk by and James was all AGHH HE TOUCHED ME!" Peter said, mocking James's movements in the Hall.

"Yeah, I saw. Along with most of the school. You're a proper git you know that?" Eilidh said, venomously staring at James. Peter, finally sensing her mood, sobered up and clambered into the carriage beside Remus.

"Relax, Eilidh. It was a joke," Sirius said, passing her without a second glance apparently not at all worried about her anger.

"It was just a laugh," James added indignantly. Eilidh stood before him, eyes narrowed, hands on her hips. She reminded Remus of his mother when he was caught reading after bedtime and he had to force himself not to laugh.

"It wasn't just a laugh. You embarrassed Snape-"

"Good," James interrupted fiercely.

"And upset Lily. Which we're probably going to fight about this later because I'm friends with you, so I'm guilty by association," Eilidh said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Well, if she says anything just send her my way. I'd be more than happy to talk to her for you," James winked and ruffled his hair.

"I'm sure you would," Eilidh snarled. She pushed James, although gently, out of the way and stomped off.

"Oy, where're you going?" James yelled.

"I am riding with my brother," Eilidh responded defiantly, her robes swinging around her as she turned on her heel.

"We've got things to discuss!" James shouted. Eilidh flipped him off and kept on marching. Sirius was laughing again. Peter was biting his lip to hide a smile. James climbed up into the carriage and took a seat next to the chuckling Sirius.

"She- she's just- she's so," James said, seeming to be at a loss for words.

"Stubborn. Crazy. Ridiculous," Sirius offered, still amused.

"Exactly," James nodded.

"I was thinking more along the lines of _right_ ," Remus added seriously. Sirius looked at him arching a brow. Peter looked at James and Sirius as if expecting a stronger reaction.

"If I didn't know any better, Moony, I'd say you had a little crush-"

"Oh, shove off Sirius!" Remus said, kicking him lightly.

"Oy! Why - " Sirius yelped from the sudden kick.

"Anyway. Moony." James interrupted, putting his feet up in the seat between Remus and Peter. "We've been thinking…."

A new plan was made. The signal, "strideo" was the same and they were only to use it if a dark object was in sight. They would follow Abbot through Hogsmeade as discreetly as possible. If they had to split up James and Sirius would cover Abbot, Peter and Eilidh would cover Saunders, and Remus was trusted enough to follow Barker alone. They exchanged quick tips on duelling and clever spells they found useful, seeming to hope that an actual brawl would take place. Neither James nor Sirius seemed concerned with the fact that their enemy was three years ahead of them.

"Remember whatever happens-" James said, upon reaching the start to Hogsmeade village.

"We're in this together," Peter finished, confidently.

"No, we keep that dark object out Abbot's hands," Sirius corrected.

"Yes. And we are in this together. We've all got each other's backs, even that stubborn, crazy, ridiculous woman," James said the last part loud enough so Eilidh could hear as she approached.

"You haven't seen crazy, Potter," Eilidh said, raising her eyebrows, hinting that humour had returned to her.

"Save it for Abbot," James said, smirking. He pulled Eilidh closer into their circle. As they followed Abbot at a distance he filled her in on the new plan.

Abbot stayed glued to his friends. They walked side by side, closer than what would be considered normal. They stopped into various stores along the main street of the village. They all took turns following them in as the rest waited at a short distance, to not raise suspicion. It became apparent that Abbot was only doing this to look innocent like it was just a regular Hogsmeade visit to him. It was a good plan and it would have worked if he and his cohorts weren't so nervous and fidgety. They were constantly looking over their shoulders as if scared of being followed.

James was worried about getting caught, so they split up and took shifts. James and Sirius would follow behind Abbot while Peter and Eilidh ran behind buildings and Remus casually strolled in front of them. When they passed Remus, Peter and Eilidh would dash out in front, Remus would fall behind, and James and Sirius would duck behind the buildings, and so on. It was harder to do as they approached the outskirts of the village and the buildings grew farther apart. Remus actually caught sight of James rolling from one building to the next like he was in a Bond movie and had to bite back a laugh.

Remus, Eilidh, and Peter stopped outside the post office so they'd fall behind Abbot. James and Sirius met them instead of dashing ahead because there was nowhere else to go. The rest of the street was a residential area. They watched as Abbot and his friends turned up a narrow side street that inclined. They continued following Abbot, this time with an even larger distance between them. Abbot continued on until they reached a small inn at the top of the hill.

A battered wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket over the door, with a picture of a wild boar upon it, it's head severed and leaked blood onto the white cloth around it. The sign creaked ominously as they approached. All five of them hesitated outside the door. It suddenly became clear that this was much more serious that harmless pranks on suspected Death Eaters.

"Hog's Head then," Remus said, slightly nervous. "Bit obvious of them, isn't it...?"

James led the way inside.

They usually spent their time in Hogsmeade surrounded by the warm, cleanliness of the Three Broomsticks. Hog's Head could not have been more different. The pub was comprised of one small, dingy, and very dirty room that smelled strongly of barn animals - particularly goats. The bay windows were so encrusted with grime that very little daylight could penetrate the room, which was instead lit by stubs of candles sitting on rough slabs of wood that somehow passed for a table. The floor seemed at first glance to be earthy, though as Remus stepped onto it he realised that there was stone beneath what seemed to be centuries of accumulated filth.

Remus remembered that Hagrid sometimes talked of coming to this bar when he helped Madam Pomfrey escort him to and from the castle on full moons. He wondered why Hagrid would ever want to come here. Everyone in the place didn't seem to want to be caught there at all. They were all hooded or masked with horrible transfiguration jobs. Two hooded figures sat at the bar, talking in whispers. In a shadowy corner beside the fireplace sat a witch with white hair that fell to her toes covering her face so he could only see a bright red nose protruding through it. Not far from where Abbot sat hunched over with his friends was a man with a straight nose that wanted to be hooked, letting Remus know that this was a kinder transfiguration error. Instinct told him to run from the place and to definitely not attract attention to himself.

All five of them seemed to naturally want to cling to the shadows. They travelled in a tight circle, standing closer together than what was normal but it made him feel safer so he didn't say anything. He fell into a kind of stupor, shuffling and tripping over his feet as they made their way toward a deserted table and kept their heads down. Their eyes shifted habitually toward Abbot and his friends, twiddling their thumbs or bouncing their knees, nervously watching the door as if expecting someone to arrive. The three of them talked casually to each other as they sipped on their drinks - alcoholic by its looks.

"I wanna know what they're saying," James whispered, irritably.

"It's just small talk by the looks of it," Sirius said.

Remus kept glancing around the room at the disguised figures. They were more than likely criminals and the five of them seemed to have attracted their attention.

"We should order something," Eilidh declared.

"You really wanna eat something here?" Sirius asked, casting a look of disgust at the floor and the table.

"We're attracting attention just sitting here staring at them," Eilidh hissed, leaning towards him. James and Sirius both cast a quick nervous glance about the room. Sirius nodded.

"Butterbeers all around then?" James asked, standing.

"I'll help," Remus said. He seemed to be in direct eye sight of the witch and did not like the feel of her gaze. Before they could reach the bar though the door creaked open, blowing in even more dirt and dried up leaves, and in walked a woman. Not an 18 or 19 year old witch fresh out of Hogwarts, but a woman easily mid-20s who walked right up to Abbot and kissed him.

Distracted as they were by the new comer, neither Remus nor James noticed the bar man who had sidled up to them from a back room.

"Need something?" the man said, rather irritably. Remus jumped in surprise.

"Er, no," James said, distractedly. He had barely flinched when the man announced himself, his eyes were too focused on Abbot's greeting.

"Butterbeers," Remus said, nudging James's arm with his elbow.

"Right, five of them, please and thanks," James said finally turning around.

"10 sickles."

James passed over the silver and the barman took it, looking suspiciously for a moment between James and Abbot's group then turned to deposit the money in an ancient wooden till and began preparing the drinks.

"We're being too obvious," Remus whispered as quietly as he could to James.

"Maybe he's just not used to having Hogwarts students here," James shrugged, casting glances over his shoulder at Abbot.

"Just stop looking at them," Remus said, out of the corner of his mouth just before the barman returned with their drinks.

They returned to their table to find Eilidh, Sirius, and Peter having a heated yet hushed discussion.

"You really think he's innocent!" Sirius hissed.

"No, he's still here! He's just not as bad as we originally thought," Eilidh responded.

"That'd be a good thing wouldn't it?" Peter asked.

"Mate, pick a side or shut up," Sirius said.

"What are we talking about?" James asked, setting down the butterbeers he held afloat in front of him.

"Eilidh thinks that Abbot doesn't actually want to be a Death Eater he's just being manipulated by his older girlfriend," Sirius explained, tilting his chair back on its hind legs and crossing his arms looking smug. He looked at James anticipating his response.

"No, he obviously does but she could be the one that put the idea in his head," Eilidh defended. "Think about it. She might be one of them and because Rosier is too young to really do any damage you-know-who's using her to get to Abbot so he can get inside Hogwarts now that Malfoy and Wilkes are gone."

"Abbot said this morning that he's wanting to get his attention so he can have a chance to become one, if you-know-who's in on this he wouldn't need to get his attention 'cause he'd already have it," James argued. Sirius pointed his finger at James while looking at Eilidh.

"See! Abbot may look innocent but that bloke's just as twisted as Malfoy!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Maybe she-" Remus started to say that it was still possible for the woman to be manipulating Abbot before being interrupted.

"Guys look," Eilidh whispered, nodding toward Abbot's table. The woman had taken out a small black cardboard box. Holding the parcel in her right hand, she gesticulated wildly with her left as if explaining something. "That has to be it."

"Wouldn't it be funny if that was just cuff links or something," Peter chuckled, completely changing the tone of the conversation.

"After what we heard this morning it's not bloody likely," James said, smiling.

"No but this still could be a setup," Peter said. James's smile disappeared as he looked at Sirius.

"You don't think-"

"There's no way. They're not that clever," Sirius said, almost defensively. After all, they were Slytherins for crying out loud!

"Cunning is in their house description," Eilidh said, weakly.

"We don't have time to discuss this," Remus hissed and glanced towards them. "They're moving."

Abbot, Barker, Saunders, and the woman all stood, tucked in their chairs, and made their way toward the door. Sirius shot up and whispered, "Accio parcel" but no parcel came flying out of any of their pockets and they continued to the door as if nothing had happened. James ran after them, his wand at the ready, and they all followed.

"OY!" James shouted. Abbot and his friends looked over their shoulders but continued walking. The woman however sped up when she heard James. "OY I'M TALKING TO YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS!"

At this Abbot, Saunders, and Barker all stopped and turned around. The woman continued on without a backwards glance.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Abbot asked furiously.

"You heard him," Sirius said, taking his place beside James. "He said you had shit for brains."

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you. He's Head Boy," Saunders sneered.

"SIRIUS, he's Head Boy! Run! He'll put us in detention!" James said with faux fear lacing his voice.

"Make us write lines. Merlin, I don't think I could take it," Sirius smirked.

"You don't cool the attitude I will make you write lines," Abbot said, authoritatively. "I'm definitely taking points off of Gryffindor for your mouth."

"Why do you reckon Dumbledore made you Head Boy?" James asked, conversationally. Abbot didn't seem to know how to respond to this. "See, we've been talking it over and we reckon that he was hoping you'd give all the stupid kids hope."

"Cause if an idiot like you can make Head Boy then there's hope for everyone," Sirius laughed. Barker moved forward, his wand pointed directly at Sirius. James and Sirius jumped into a fighting stance, Remus, Peter, and Eilidh tensed behind them.

"Will, stop!" Abbot ordered. Barker halted at once, his wand still pointed at them. "I don't know what you all are up to but we can discuss it in detention. Monday evening."

"You really think you'll still be in school come Monday?" Remus asked, stepping forward.

"Last I checked, bringing in a cursed object gets you expelled," James said. Abbot laughed a short humorless laugh. He turned to Barker and nodded.

Barker raised his wand, brought it down, and in that one elegant movement Sirius was on the floor as if his knees had suddenly forgot how to work. Peter stepped up and blocked the next spell Barker had aimed at him. Saunders strode forward and shouted "Stupefy!" pointing his wand at Remus. Eilidh pulled him out of the way and blocked the spell with her ready wand before Remus even had a chance to register his movements. James chased after Abbot who was running like a bat out of hell down the hill.

"I've got him! Help James!" Remus shouted at Eilidh as he took his wand out and prepared to duel.

With the exception of a few friendly bouts, Remus had never been in a duel before. His father, upon receiving his Hogwarts letter, had taught him a few spell he thought would be useful should he ever have to defend himself against an adversary. So when Saunders raised his wand again, clearly about to disarm him, Remus thought back to his father's lessons and said quickly and clearly, "Everte Statum."

Saunders flew back several feet, his disarming charm shooting aimlessly in the air, and landed with a thud on the ground and didn't get up again. Remus looked over his shoulder, checking to see if Sirius and Peter still had the upper hand with Barker. He was struggling against thick ropes tied around his arms, wrists, and legs, protruding from Peter's wand who was smiling victoriously at Sirius.

"Nice one, mate," Sirius grinned.

James, Eilidh, and Abbot were still dueling at the bottom of the hill. Abbot's wand waved wildly and almost uncontrollably around as Eilidh and James shot a string of spells at him. They almost had him. Eilidh and James began to separate slowly and didn't stop until they were on opposite sides of Abbot. He turned to deflect a spell that Eilidh shot at him. James charged, hitting him in the middle and bringing him down. Pinning him with his knees, James reached for his pockets. Abbot raised his wand. Eilidh grabbed his arm and pulled it down before he got a chance to hex James. Abbot swung and hit her head, successfully knocking her off. Both James and Eilidh reacted. There was a brilliant flash of multicoloured light leaving Abbot moaning in pain with tentacles all over his face. The attack distracted Abbot long enough for James to reach into his pocket and pull out the black box but not enough to stop Abbot completely. While Abbot raised his wand to attack again, James and Eilidh were about ready to cause more damage.

Dumbledore strolled up to the scene, unnoticed by the three in combat. He raised his wand and disarmed all three of them. He spoke. James and Eilidh retreated back up the hill. With a wave of his wand the tentacles on Abbot's face vanished and he and Dumbledore followed James and Eilidh.

"What's he want?" Peter asked nervously. Eilidh shrugged. She was bleeding from her brow where Abbot had hit her but otherwise seemed fine. James, on the other hand, looked furious and tense though physically unharmed.

"You guys alright?" James asked. Remus, Peter, and Sirius nodded. Dumbledore waved his wand over Saunders bringing him back to consciousness and helped him to his feet.

"You can let him go now," Abbot sneered at Peter who still had Barker bound.

"Nah, I think he likes being tied up," Sirius said with an unnoticed wink, he then ruffled Barker's hair. Barker jerked away from him and glared. Abbot snarled but said nothing.

"Is anyone in need of immediate medical attention?" Dumbledore asked, holding Saunders steady by his arm.

"No, sir," Remus said, feeling a little guilty about injuring Saunders so badly.

"Good. Now, Mr Potter if you'll hand over that box and Mr Pettigrew please release Mr Barker, I think I can take it from here," Dumbledore said. Peter lowered his wand and the ropes that held Barker fell. James handed the box to Dumbledore, keeping still furious eyes on Abbot. "Thank you. Please go and enjoy the rest of the day."

"That's-" Eilidh started but broke off seeming to think the better of her protest.

"We will be talking about this later, Miss Nicnevin, I assure you," Dumbledore smiled then strode past them back into Hog's Head taking Saunders, Abbot, and Barker with him.

"Let me see your head," Sirius said, tightly.

"If you don't mind, I'll just wait till we get back to the castle so Madam Pomfrey can look at it," Eilidh said, stepping away from him.

"Don't be ridiculous. I had detention with her for a month I can take care of a minor injury," James argued.

"James is really good at healing spells," Sirius assured her, catching her by her arm and holding head to keep it still. He whipped away the blood with his thumb. "James what do you think."

James stepped up and squinted at the cut on Eilidh's brow that was barely visible now that the blood was gone.

"Right, it's too small for any spells I know but it looks like it might leave a scar so you should probably see Pomfrey when we get back," James told her.

"Thanks," Eilidh smiled, awkwardly.

"I can't believe he hit you," Sirius said, finally releasing her, his furrowed brow gave the only sign of emotion. His years of experience with Sirius told Remus that he was trying very hard to control himself.

"Oh stop! If it was any of you, neither of you would be fussing this much," Eilidh demanded. James looked like he wanted to argue but couldn't find the words.

"You're probably right," Sirius shrugged, not looking at all bothered by the statement.

"Thanks, mate," Peter muttered. Sirius smiled and pushed him playfully.

"Hey, thanks for having my back, back there," James smiled, nudging Eilidh with his shoulder.

"Don't mention it," she smiled back.

"Moony! The way you knocked Saunders out! AGH, you've gotta teach us that!" James said, excitedly.

"You saw that," Remus said, his face felt warmer than usual.

"He flew like five feet in the air! Everyone saw that" Peter grinned.

"That was pretty cool," Sirius said.

"Black, I never thought you'd be taken down so easily," James teased.

"Oy, he took me by surprise!" Sirius defended.

"I don't know, it looked kind of obvious to me," Eilidh shrugged.

"Pfft, I'm still an ace," Sirius scoffed.

"Yeah, you're still an ace," Eilidh laughed.

* * *

 *****carlingwilliams, sleep happens all the time but Bart Crouch only happens once in a while so you've got your priorities straight. Currently Lily doesn't like James because he's still a bully in her eyes. I do like the idea of them working together on something but it can't be Snape because they're still friends and Lily (to me at least) seemed very protective of him. There's not much else I can say without spoiling what I have planned except** **Jily will totally happen. And thank you for reading and telling me that you liked it, it means a lot and I'm really glad you enjoyed it. XO**

 *****Hey J, who is not James but is still cool cuz you sign J! I actually deleted the innuendo because I thought it was too awkward and I guess I didn't delete the note when I did but I like the way you think with the Princess Bride thing :D Thank you for the compliments. The way you word things is really interesting, have you written anything? XO**

 *****LucidDreamer10, thank you. Jily will happen in its time. Unfortunately Lily is stubborn and James has his head up his ass. I will strive for longer chapters now that I know it's preferred so thank you for saying so. As long as there are people reading I will continue writing. XO***********

* * *

 ******Did you ever do something incredibly stupid like writing a chapter that isn't supposed to happen until like centuries from now and then get really excited about sharing it because you're actually proud of what you've written but you can't because I don't know why but you just can't?! Yeah, that's what I did. I also have zero impulse control so if you're following me as an author and you get an email saying that I've written a new story and care about reading something that isn't supposed to be written yet, don't read it.**

 **Shout out to the followers and the favouriters and the lurkers, you guys are awesome!**

 **You know the drill...**

 **XO**


	38. Andromeda and Lily

Chapter 13 of year 4: Andromeda and Lily

An unpleasant tightness in your stomach, a dry throat, and a desperate desire to get out of the situation. Awkward. There was no other word for it.

It was awkward sitting with Eilidh and Persephone so obviously not getting along while Mary and Josie prattled on about dress robes as if they couldn't feel the tension between the two. It was awkward trying to hide from Andy while pretending that nothing was wrong for his friends' sake.

He didn't know why panic had risen in him when he walked into the Three Broomsticks and saw his cousin. His favourite cousin at one time. He hadn't seen Andy in years but there she was. Sitting at the bar, clutching a tiny bundle that was obviously the infant Narcissa had told them about. She had been furious as if the child's muddled blood had tainted them all.

"Where is Lily anyway?" James blurted out when the topic of conversation changed from Persephone's dress robes to Lily's shoes.

"She's out looking for Nick Graves," Josie answered casting a significant look to her friends. Eilidh groaned and Mary rolled her eyes. Remus choked on his drink.

"Nick Graves? Isn't that…?"Sirius trailed off realising the situation for what it was. Lily had been looking for Nick Graves, the bloke Remus had invented, hard enough to irritate her friends. James stared at Eilidh through wide eyes, looking terrified and guilty. Remus stared at the nervously twisting fingers in his lap. Sirius wasn't the only one who found the situation funny: Peter was holding back his laughter, his face red with the effort.

"What did you do?" Eilidh asked, exasperatedly.

"I… am going to fix it," James answered, stood, and dashed for the door.

"Do you want me to come?" Remus called after him, worry lacing his voice.

"No!"

Eilidh sighed and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "I should probably make sure Lily doesn't rip his head off."

"If she sees that cut on your head she'll freak!" Mary placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her to her seat. "I'll go."

"I'll go with you!" Peter said quickly and in response to the questioning looks he got added: "In case James loses his temper or something."

Persephone stood so quickly her chair toppled over. She picked it up and strode out without a glance or word to the rest of them.

"I take it things between you and Persephone are still… weird?" Remus asked. Eilidh shrugged, pulling off indifference well if it weren't for the tightening of her jaw.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, genuinely concerned. Eilidh was usually one to wear her heart on her sleeve.

Eilidh looked as if she was searching for the right words, then after a somewhat pregnant pause, she answered, "She likes to hold grudges."

"She doesn't like to be forced to do things," Josie corrected, almost aggressively, defending her friend.

"I didn't force her to do anything!" She claimed, "And it's a good thing I got her to talk because if I hadn't there wouldn't have been anyone to stop Abbot today," Eilidh argued fiercely, her nostrils flaring and her eyes pricking with tears. Why is it that girls always cry when they're angry?

"So that's where you were today? Off fighting a war you have no business being in," Josie hissed, she tilted her head up, as if higher and bigger than everyone else.

"I stopped a bad thing from happening. What would you-"

"You should have gone to a teacher. We have rules for a reason," Josie stated, matter of factly sounding oddly like Regulus. If Sirius had a sickle for every time he'd been told that they had rules or traditions for a reason he'd be able to afford to live on his own.

"They wouldn't have been able to do anything!" Eilidh argued fiercely, her voice growing louder with every word, enunciating every syllable, sounding as if she'd made this argument a million times before. "We didn't have enough proof."

"Whatever. What you did was wrong and your excuses don't change that," Josie huffed and left just as quickly as Persephone had.

"Right," Eilidh breathed shakily, trying to regain control over herself. "Sorry you had to see that." She apologised, suddenly embarrassed.

"Sorry we caused that," Remus said, a frustrated line forming between his brow.

"You didn't," Eilidh smiled kindly at him, trying to eliminate Remus's frustration.

"Josie's always been a bit… stiff. I wouldn't let what she says get to you," Sirius advised, hoping that he sounded sympathetic and that none of his anger for Josie slipped through his voice. He simply couldn't believe how Josie had reacted. She had to know what Eilidh was fighting for. He never got to find out how she took it though because her response was cut off by someone calling his name.

He froze as a chill ran through him. Andy sounded exactly the same as she did four years ago. Remus and Eilidh turned toward the sound of her voice.

"Er, who's that?" Remus asked, running his eyes up and down the woman questionably.

"Andy," Sirius whispered, seeming at a loss for words.

Understanding flared in Remus's mind, "Ah," he nodded. "Well, I've got an appointment with Madam Pomfrey. Eilidh you are more than welcome to join me."

Remus moved quickly toward the door giving not so subtle looks to Eilidh. He probably thought he was being tactful but Sirius really didn't want to be alone right now. Before he could say as much Remus was out the door and Eilidh who had finally understood his silent message was beginning to follow.

"Eilidh," Sirius said, catching her hand before he could stop himself. He wanted to ask her to stay, sure, but what if she didn't want to stay? This was bound to be an awkward situation not only because he was reuniting with a long lost relative but also the tension between her family and his dated back centuries. The confliction caused his words to be caught in his throat and he mouthed trying to find an out.

"You want me to stay?" Eilidh asked with not a hint inconvenience in her voice.

"Er," Sirius began, still trying to find the right way to ask. Eilidh simply nodded and sat down giving his hand a light squeeze and watched as Andy took the last steps to approach their table.

"Sirius," she grinned. She looked tired yet somehow happier than Sirius had ever seen her.

"Andromeda," Sirius smiled back. Her grin faded slightly. She looked confused and slightly hurt.

"What happened to Andy?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing," Sirius shook his head feeling slightly foolish. He stood to greet her properly. "It's good to see you, Andy."

Andy pulled him closer to her and wrapped him in a tight embrace, her tiny bundle wrapped in a sling against her chest breathed steadily against him. "It's been too long," she whispered softly. Sirius nodded and hugged her tighter, careful not to hurt the bundle between them. There had always been a silent understanding between her and Sirius, he was glad that the years had not taken that. Sirius felt tears springing into his eyes and he pulled away quickly, begging the tears to somehow evaporate

"Here, sit down, get off your feet," he said, dragging out a chair for her. She smiled her thanks and eased her way in, holding her baby steady as she did. "This is my friend Eilidh."

"Nice to meet you, Andy," Eilidh smiled, extending a hand toward her.

"Pleasure's mine, Eilidh," Andy smirked, shaking her hand. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" she asked, looking at Sirius with a humoured expression he found odd and unreadable.

"No," Eilidh and Sirius said together. She smiled holding on to that humorous expression.

"So did you buy a very lifelike doll or did you get yourself knocked up?" Sirius smirked, gesturing to the softly breathing baby.

"Ha ha, Sirius," Andy rolled her eyes and pulled back the fabric of the sling. Out popped a tiny little fist, its fingers spread when it hit the nape of Andy's neck revealing fingernails smaller than anything Sirius had ever seen. Andy smiled lovingly at the creature as she pulled the rest of it out. The baby stirred slightly at the movement then quickly fell back into a peaceful slumber. "Sirius, meet your cousin. Nymphadora," Andy cooed, brushing tiny wisps of blonde hair off of the child's forehead.

"She's tiny." Sirius simply could not get over how small she was. Everything from her button nose to her stubby curling toes was unbelievably small and fragile looking. He never imagined a human being could be that small.

"You wanna hold her?" Andy offered.

"I-uh." He did want to hold her but he was terrified of dropping her or hurting her with his rough, clumsy, inexperienced hands.

"It's okay, she's not as breakable as she looks," Andy soothed, holding Nymphadora up to his chest and bringing his arm under her. She felt heavier than Sirius was expecting and a lot steadier. Nymphadora stirred, her mouth opened into a wide O as she yawned revealing her toothless mouth. The corner of her lips twitched as if to smile as she let out an odd gurgling sound that only babies could make.

"She looks like Ted," Sirius laughed, truly seeing the resemblance.

"I know," Andy giggled.

"How old is she?" Sirius asked.

"Three months," Andy said.

Three months. This thing had been alive for three months and Sirius was only just meeting her. It made him angry that he was so cut out of Andy's life that he hadn't even met her child. He watched as her tiny fists rubbed her tired eyes. She hummed in satisfaction as she snuggled into his chest. He felt like his heart would burst. With his free hand, he lightly touched her little ball of a head, her hair caught between his fingers and he saw the strangest thing he had ever seen. The baby's hair, he initially thought was blonde, had a hint of a rosy pink to it.

"I-is that pink?" he asked, not really believing his eyes. Andy laughed, heartily.

"Yeah, she does that when she's happy. She's a metamorphmagus," Andy explained. "Her pregnancy was the weirdest thing I've ever experience, probably ever will."

"Merlin's pants!" Sirius exclaimed, then looked up apologetically at his cousin. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I don't think she can remember much right now anyway," Andy said. She watched Sirius holding her daughter thoughtfully for a moment. "Listen, Sirius, I came to Hogsmeade because I needed to talk to you about something so if you get a chance I'd really-"

"Eilidh's a friend. I trust her so I'd probably end up telling her what you said anyway," Sirius interrupted her, startled by her sudden change in tone. She now seemed burdened down with something.

"It's kind of a family thing," Andy responded, looking apologetically at Eilidh.

Eilidh looked at Sirius, asking if she was still needed. Sirius nodded. He had a dreadful feeling that Andy had terrible news and did not want to be alone to receive it. He wished he could send for James but he didn't see how so Eilidh would have to do.

"Andy, just tell me," Sirius said forcefully. He handed back the baby already feeling his hands starting to shake. Andy looked flustered for a moment but took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Okay," she started. "I ran into Narcissa in Diagon Alley this summer. She told me about what you've been getting up to at Hogwarts and at home."

There was a pause in which Andy looked at him apprehensively.

"Okay," Sirius pressed, urging her to go on.

"I just….I'm proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. It's really brave of you, especially with everything that's going on." Andy paused again biting her lip. Sirius knew now that it wasn't news she was bringing. She was here to warn him, to tell him to shut up until it was 'safe.' The thing was, it was never safe so what was the point?

"But," Sirius demanded. He could feel a wall building between him and Andy, one that he had never thought would be there.

"But… you know what happened to me when they found out about Ted. They'll do the same to you if you keep going on the way you do. And I'm sorry but I honestly think you mum's a bit worse than mine." Andy said, in a rush, exactly what he knew she would say. He wondered why he hadn't expected it the minute he saw her. Sit down, shut up, and smile. The Black family tradition upheld by them all, even Andy.

"You want me to be seen and not heard. Another trophy my mother can parade around. It's too late for me. I failed at that the moment the sorting hat put me in Gryffindor." Sirius could play indifference very well. It was what he was raised to do. So he put on his apathetic mask and watch as Andy's face fell. It gave him a sick satisfaction to see it. As was the Black way. He realised this and, being somewhat disgusted with himself, he let his bruised feelings show in his heavy eyes and his frowning mouth. He took hold of Andy's free hand and said in a tone much gentler than before: "Thank you for caring. But I can't. This war is bigger than all of us and I couldn't live with myself if I just sat back and watched it all happen."

"Then get out, Sirius," Andy whispered, her eyes pleading. "Get out before it's too late."

"I'm working on it," Sirius assured her. Andy's eyes brimmed with tears as she cupped his jaw.

"All right," she said. She whipped her face and cleared her throat while she stood tall and confident and happy just as she was when Sirius first saw her. "I'm off. It was really nice to meet you Eilidh. And Sirius… would you mind if I wrote you every now and then?"

"Yeah, of course, I'd love to hear from you," Sirius answered, shocked that she felt like she had to ask though it would explain why he hadn't heard from her in four years.

"Okay, I would have before I just…."

"Andy, we're family. Write whenever you like," Sirius said.

"I will. But only while you're in school. I don't want to get you in trouble," she promised.

"I don't care-"

"I do," she interrupted firmly. Sirius didn't know what to say so he nodded. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you. I'll let you two get back to your, er…. Have a nice school year." Andy smiled one last time at the pair of them, adjusted her hold on Nymphadora, and walked out of the place with her head held high. Sirius was happy to see that even though she had been disowned she hadn't lost her pride in herself. He was also very happy that James hadn't been there. Merlin knows what conclusions he would have jumped to.

"That was intense," Eilidh proclaimed. Sirius looked at her. Her arm was slung over the back of her chair, her expression and body relaxed, but her eyes were lit with concern and almost fear. Shit.

"Listen, this has to stay between us," Sirius implored.

"Why, you don't want your friends to know that your cousin is scared shitless for you?" Eilidh snapped. Her mask of calm falling. She looked angrier than Sirius had ever seen her.

"She overreacts," Sirius lied.

"Yeah, okay," Eilidh scoffed.

"Eilidh!"

"This stays between us, it's your life. But Sirius," She caught his eye and held it for a moment making sure she had his attention. "You have people who are more than willing to help you. Don't take that for granted."

**********************************************Meanwhile in the James-iverse*************************************************************

Hogsmeade was way too crowded to be looking for someone. Especially, someone he knew next to nothing about. James hadn't realised how much he didn't know about Lily until he had to think about where she'd be.

What were her interests? She didn't like pranks so she wouldn't be in Zonko's. She liked butterbeer - she had to like butterbeer. Everyone liked butterbeer. Yet she wasn't in the Three Broomsticks. Did she actually like potions or was she just good at it? Reading. She liked reading. James always saw her late at night in the common room, during boring moments in class (the entirety of History of Magic,) or under a tree on sunny days with her nose in a book reading with an incredible amount of concentration.

So he went to Tomes and Scrolls - a new and used bookshop. Lily wasn't there but that's where Mary and Peter caught up with him.

"She's not shopping, she's looking for someone. Where would you go to look for someone?" Mary coaxed, kindly.

James's initial thought was the Three Broomsticks again. That's where he'd go to look for someone. Students ran in and out of there all day either to warm up or grab a quick bite to eat. He had already established that she wasn't there so James had to think. Where would Lily go to find someone she didn't know? What did Lily Evans think about the people she went to school with?

She believed that they were mostly innocent. That everyone naturally had her sweet disposition. Honeydukes. A candy shop to represent sweet childhood innocence.

Sure enough there she was leaning against the checkout counter, a cherry lollipop twirling between her lips, her eyes mulling over the crowd like she was hoping Nick Graves would jump out and announce himself. Her eyes spotted James and rested there for a moment making his heart sputter then flicked quickly away, pretending like she hadn't seen him.

"Lily!" Mary called over the sea of their overly excited peers. She grabbed James's hand pulled him along as she pushed her way through the crowd. Lily spotted Mary, smiled, and lurched forward meeting Mary, James, and Peter halfway.

"Hey, Mar," Lily greeted, ignoring James and Peter's presence. "Where's Seph and Josie?"

"Seph left. Josie's in the pub. And James needs to tell you something. It seemed important or else I wouldn't have brought him," Mary said apologetically, bringing Lily's attention to him. She took a deep breath, drawing herself up to full height.

"What is it, Potter?" Her voice became tight as if trying to control herself.

"Nice to see you too, Evans," James smirked. Eilidh had already told him that she was upset with him. What he needed was a reaction so he teased her. He heard her suck in a long breath, her lips tightened, her eyes narrowed. His hands flew to his hair out of both nerves and excitement. He could tell, even though she was trying so hard to control herself, that if he played this right moments from now her eyes would spark with a fiery passion. Sure it was because she was furious with him but that was part of the rush.

"Don't you think your hair's messy enough?" Lily quipped. James pulled his hand slowly out of his hair and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Glad you like it," he grinned and winked at her.

"I didn't say that," Lily said, looking away from him. That was different she usually stared right back. "I thought you said he had something important to say?" she asked Mary as if it were her fault he was toying with her.

"Don't blame Mary, she's only here so you wouldn't bite Eilidh's head off." James actually bit his tongue. He didn't mean to mention Eilidh at all and hoped he didn't just make things worse for her. Nevertheless, it brought her attention back to him.

"Eilidh's with you?" Lily questioned. James made a show of looking around him.

"I don't see her," he shrugged. Lily squinted her eyes at him, groaned, and started to walk away. James stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. She looked up at him, jaw tight, nostrils flared.

"Do you mind if we talk privately?" James asked, lightly as if he wasn't at all worried he had just ruined Eilidh's friendship with Lily.

"I do mind actually because I've got to find my friend that you've somehow turned into a pompous butt waffle," Lily fumed, marching around him.

"Wow, wonder how I did that?" James laughed chasing after her.

"Your personality is infectious," Lily snarled.

"So I'm a pompous butt waffle too, huh?" James laughed again. Lily didn't respond she just kept marching forward with her jaw set and her hands clenched into tight little fists at her side. James caught her by her elbow. She jerked away almost hitting a third year behind her. It was only now that he saw the tears she was fighting back. "Sorry," he apologised, sheepishly. "I'll explain about Eilidh, I just want to talk to you privately."

"I know what's going on with you and Eilidh," she hissed, her eyebrows raised daring him to lie to her.

"Just let me explain," James begged. Lily studied him. He didn't know what she was looking for but he tried to look as sincere as he possibly could.

"Fine," Lily said and marched off to a far corner. She led him to the section of odd candy like blood-flavored lollipops and cockroach clusters where Peter stood snarling at the sugared rat tails.

"Pete, bugger off," James ordered. Peter jumped, then grinned when he saw who had approached them.

"You sure you don't want to me to stay and make sure you don't say anything to muck this up?" he teased.

"Oh, go flirt with Mary," James said. Peter's face flushed leaving James to wonder if he was actually crushing on Mary until Lily put all thought of Peter or even breathing out of his mind by clutching his wrist and pulling him quickly into the back room.

"Why, Evans! I'm surprised at you. We could get in trouble for this," James taunted, placing a hand on his chest and feigned surprise.

"Shut up, Potter, and talk," Lily ordered, her eyes still slightly narrowed.

"That doesn't-"

"I know, just get to the point," Lily snapped.

"All right. Should we start with Eilidh first?" James asked, suddenly nervous about having to confess to her.

"I don't care but for the love of God just start!" Lily growled.

"Okay, erm, Eilidh is constantly trying to stop me from doing... whatever - it's really annoying but it's mostly because she knows that it will upset you. And it's really not fair that you're mad at her for being friends with me when your friends with Sni-Snape. I mean the last person you should be mad at is Eilidh 'cause she's… she really cares about you," James told her. Lily finally seemed to relax. "Like a lot. Like she loves you, I'd say. I don't know."

"She actually tries to stop you?" Lily asked, smiling a little.

"Yeah. I mean she's never hexed me like you have but I think it's 'cause she likes me better -" James was about to say, Snape, which was entirely true but given the circumstance he deemed it inappropriate. "Than you."

Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever helps you feel better about yourself." She scratched her forehead looking thoughtfully at his shoes. James waited for her to be ready for him to continue, his throat getting tighter with every second he had to wait. "Alright, what was so important that you had to pester Mary into bringing you to me?"

"Well, um… see…. Ah jeez." James's hand found his hair again. He kicked the air spinning himself around. It was hard for him to face her right now. "You're gonna get mad," James told the crate in front of him labelled HONEYDUKES in block letters.

"Is anyone hurt?" Lily asked after a moment, her voice sounding tight again.

"I might be at the end of this," James shrugged, attempting to joke.

"I promise I won't jinx you," Lily swore. James turned around. His father always said that if he ever had to apologise he should do it right and that included looking someone in the eye.

"Hexes and curses are okay?" He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm not taking them off the table," she smiled back at him. An actual genuine smile and he was about to ruin it all. James savoured the moment where the ghost of her smile still played on her lips before continuing.

"Okay." He took a deep breath and looked her square in the eye. "I was told by an anonymous source that Nick Graves was going to ask you to the stupid ball thing. Only after I told you did the anonymous source tell me that he made Nick Graves up. Like he's not real. I didn't tell you before now because I didn't think you'd care enough to look for him and it wasn't until Mary told me today-"

"Hang on," Lily interrupted. She didn't look hurt or angry or even embarrassed, just confused. "Nick Graves is made up? He's completely fictional?"

"Yyyup." James stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and leant slightly away from her.

"It was Black wasn't it?" Lily accused.

"No! I would have known it was a joke if it had been Sirius. He never gives a shit about what anybody says so he never pays attention to gossip," James defended, instantly.

"Who else would do that? Peter?" Lily questioned. She didn't seem angry with him at all.

"No. It- it doesn't matter who did it. They didn't mean for you to be involved at all," James argued, getting frustrated.

"Okay," Lily said, startled by his sudden change in tone.

"The point is that I'm sorry for sending you on a wild goose chase. And my source is also very sorry," James added hoping that would stop her from grilling his friends.

"Thank you," she said, looking shocked.

"What?" he asked. He wasn't expecting shock from her. Not at this point.

"It's just- you never apologise," Lily admitted, cautiously. "Like who are you and what have you done with James Potter?"

He didn't feel guilty about this. The only other thing he could apologise to Lily for was Snape and he wasn't at all sorry about that.

"You don't really know me, Evans," James said, having to physically stop himself from touching his hair again.

"Guess that's true," Lily conceded with a shrug. She kicked out her foot, the tip of her ballet slipper touched the crate now behind him. Was she nervous? Hope fluttered through him.

"You could get to know me," James flirted.

"James."

"I'll buy you a butterbeer and we can talk. Or we can go to Madam Puddifoot's," James offered in a rush.

"Potter please!" Lily begged, successfully shutting James up. "Don't ruin this," she whispered.

James felt a pang in his chest that was all too familiar.

"Yeah, okay," James answered coldly. Lily opened her mouth to say something but James didn't think he could take her sympathetic excuses. "We should get out of here before we get caught."

He turned on his heel, his robes whipping around him, and strode for the door. He was careful to not make eye contact with anyone as he moved around the room in search of Peter. He spotted him with Mary, reading the large poster on the wall about where Honeydukes gets their cocoa beans for their famous chocolate.

"Pettigrew let's go," James ordered, not waiting to see if he followed.

"What on earth did you do to him?" he heard Mary mutter.

"I have no idea," Lily said.

James gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as he walked out the door and down the street with Peter running to keep up with him.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"Nothing," James snapped.

"Where are we going?" Peter asked as they passed the Three Broomsticks.

"I'm going back. You can stay if you want," James said, still cold. He wasn't upset with Peter. He wasn't even upset with Lily. That's the problem. What was he supposed to do when he was upset and there was no one to blame?


	39. Obstination

**Warnings: Mild Language**

* * *

Chapter 14 of year 4: Obstination

James had offered to stay longer to help Marlene train. Frank had run into Alice on his way back to the castle. Gabe Pevensie had detention. Cresswell had some Captain duties to attend to. Sirius wouldn't be caught dead with Shacklebolt (only because he had got the Beater position he had wanted but he'd never admit that even to himself.) So it was one of the rare occasions when Sirius was alone, strolling back to Gryffindor Tower. He didn't mind it at all. It gave him time to simply breathe and not think for a few moments. That was before he ran into him. The Hufflepuff who was the first to ever confront Sirius about a rumour.

There were a lot of rumours circulating around Hogwarts about Sirius. It rarely bothered him. Most of the time he found it humorous. On rare occasions, when he heard whispers about himself practising dark magic, it did bother him. No one had ever had the guts to say it to his face though.

It had been a while since he's heard anything about himself. He thought that his peers now knew him well enough to know that he was different than what society had come to expect from a Black. He wasn't a muggle hating wizard obsessed with the dark arts. He was the exact opposite and proud to be so.

Sirius first saw him at a distance sitting on a bench with two other blokes, all guffawing with laughter as they passed around a book. He didn't think anything of it. He was just passing a stranger sitting in a public place.

"Oy, Black," the Hufflepuff called as Sirius passed. Sirius stopped, not knowing what he expected but also not feeling defensive. His friends all hushed. One of them nudged him as if to tell him to be quiet while the other smiled at his shoes. "I heard you're dating that wolf girl."

"Who?" Sirius questioned, genuinely confused. He could never understand why people were so obsessed with who was dating who.

"That Nicnevin girl. A friend of mine said she saw you two in the Three Broomsticks yesterday," he answered, holding back a grin.

"Oh, no we're just fr-"

"I mean it makes sense, doesn't it? For a dark wizard to have a hard on for the darkest half-breed there is," he sneered and his friends burst out laughing.

Sirius wasn't sure what to do just that he needed to act. There were so many wrongs that needed correcting. Eilidh wasn't a werewolf. Sirius wasn't a dark wizard. They certainly weren't dating. It sickened him that the Hufflepuff had called werewolves dark. Remus wasn't dark.

His jaw tightened, locking into place. He knew he'd never be heard over their obnoxious laughter and he had left his wand in his dormitory before heading off to the Quidditch field. His hand started to tremble and sweat. He needed to make contact with something. A good punch in the face would likely scare the crap out of the idiot. He curled his trembling fingers into fists, his muscles tensed ready to make contact, he didn't even have to think about it. He raised his fist needing to hear that satisfying smack.

An annoying, high pitched meow froze him. He looked over his shoulder and spotted Mrs Norris's lamp like eyes peering from around the corner, goading him on. Filch would love to have an opportunity to punish Sirius. So instead, he snatched the book out of his hands, finally silencing their laughter, and threw it across the corridor its pages flying out like leaves in a harsh wind.

"You git! That's a library book!" The Hufflepuff yelled, standing a full head taller than Sirius. He didn't care though. He still wanted to punch him, to see his blood spilling from his nose, but he could see Mrs Norris's tail swaying patiently out of the corner of his eye. So he strode away, his anger increased with every step he took as he mulled over the scene.

Sirius stalked into the common room, his fists clenched and face hot. He spotted Remus sitting around the fire with Eilidh and Lily playing gobstones. Lily and Eilidh laughed as a gobstone shot a nasty smelling goo into his face.

Sirius marched over wondering how any of this happened. They were friends. Honest to goodness friends. Friends who got into loud arguments about The Unforgivable Curses in defence, who were forced into each other's corners in Muggle Studies for being the only Gryffindors to take the class. Friends who were seen alone together talking over butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks.

"Where's Peter?" he asked Remus, throwing himself on the floor next to him, trying to keep his anger out of his voice and apparently failing.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked automatically. He dropped the large stone in his hand giving Sirius his full attention. Lily looked from Eilidh to Remus to Sirius and back again, apparently not knowing what to do. Eilidh watched him with a neutral expression. He was slightly annoyed with the lot of them. If he had wanted to talk about it he would have said something, not ask where Peter was.

"Nothing," he said shortly, bringing his legs to his chest. He didn't know why but he couldn't bring himself to tell Eilidh what they were saying about her nor Remus about the insult to his kind. People believing that he was a dark wizard was nothing new and not worth telling, it just had never been so in his face before.

"Did practice go okay?" Remus asked, rolling the stone between his hands. Of course, Remus was digging. Why would Remus ever just leave him alone? That was something… a good friend wouldn't do.

"Yup," Sirius answered. His heart clenched at Remus's kindness but only made the Hufflepuff's words that much worse. He still found he couldn't meet his eye so he traced the seam of his trousers instead.

"Where's James?" Remus asked, half rising in alarm.

"Still on the Quidditch field," Sirius answered quickly. "He's helping McKinnon train. And before you ask: No we didn't fight."

"Okay… I don't know what else it could-"

"Because _nothing_. Happened," Sirius said forcefully, finally looking back at him. Remus slightly recoiled, shocked at his tone. "Just go back to your game," he said softly and curled into a tighter ball, resting his chin on his knees. He did not mean to lash out at him but he just kept digging.

"Sirius," Lily said, gently, looking concerned yet cautious, her fingers picking at the fabric of the carpet. "Do you want me to go so you can talk?"

Sirius's jaw tightened. He'd have to tell them something. He had made too much of a scene when he came in.

"No. It's nothing really. They're just… people are saying that we're dating," Sirius answered, careful not to meet anyone's gaze. A lump had risen in his throat. It was the basic gist of the rumour and it had bothered him a little so it wasn't exactly a lie.

"That you and me?" Lily asked pointing a finger at herself and Sirius, looking utterly confused.

"No. Eilidh and I," Sirius corrected, staring at his shoelaces as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"So?" Eilidh blinked not understanding why this would upset him so much. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't. He'd be annoyed at most and he'd probably just laugh it off.

"So, we're not," Sirius said void of emotion. He shrugged, keeping a tight hold on his folded legs.

"So why do you care if they think we are? Why does it matter?" she challenged. She made a good point and he didn't know how to argue it without revealing more of the truth.

"Why doesn't it bother you?" he deflected, a method that worked in most situation. Eilidh gazed at him. For a moment he thought she had caught onto him but then she shrugged and returned to her gaming position.

"We just have to be careful not to be seen alone together anymore," she stated, her voice sounding colder than what he had come to know. He had somehow unintentionally hurt her feelings that much was obvious.

"What about Muggle Studies?" he asked, trying to let her know that that's not what he wanted. She shrugged again and fidgeted with the different coloured stones in front of her.

"We'll make new friends I guess," she mumbled. He finally released his legs and let them fall.

"Leave me alone in that class and I'll consider you to be a horrible person," he declared, folding his legs under him. She still didn't look up at him so he reached forward and pulled the stones away from her.

"Alright! But I don't see how that will solve your problem!" she yelled.

"Why are you mad at me? I'm not the one-"

"I'm not mad," she snarled, obviously lying. He didn't get a chance to press the issue because James burst through the portrait hole.

"Good Morning you pompous butt waffles!" he grinned, striding toward them covered in sweat, still in his Quidditch robes, and his hair messier than ever. Lily hid her face in her hands hiding a blush though her shoulders shook with laughter.

"What's a butt waffle?" Eilidh questioned, looking like it was the strangest thing she'd ever heard.

"I don't know. Ask Evans," James shrugged. Eilidh looked at Lily but seeing that her face was still covered didn't ask.

"James, you smell like Quidditch," Remus said, his face scrunched up in disgust.

"Thank you, Remus," he smirked, clutching his heart. Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius and Eilidh laughed. "Listen, mates. Where's Peter?"

"He's up in the dorm room catching up on sleep," Remus answered, making a show of holding his nose.

"It's almost noon!" James huffed, throwing his arms in the air.

"It's only 8 o'clock. Let him sleep. It's the least you can do after making him get up every day at the crack of dawn," Remus said, his voice sounding nasally from his still pinched nostrils.

"I can't Dumbledore's called us to his office," James told them, making his way toward the dormitory steps.

"Oy, mate!" Sirius called. James stopped and turned to face him. "Grab my wand? I left it on my nightstand."

"And take a shower!" Remus added.

James chuckled shaking his head and he turned to leave again.

"Hey Potter," Lily called, her voice sounding cautious. James stopped and looked over his shoulder, not looking elated like Sirius had expected, but guarded.

"Yes, Evans," James said, his tone matching his expression. Lily swallowed and bit her lip.

"Did you have a good practice?" she asked kindly like she was talking to an injured child.

"Yes Evans," James repeated.

"Good. Think you'll win the next match?" she continued conversationally. James looked confused and cast a look to Sirius he couldn't quite understand. He looked irritated.

"With me on the team we'll never lose," he answered then quickly moved up the steps toward the dormitory.

Sirius, Remus, and Eilidh all stared at Lily wanting answers. Lily kept her expression blank as she picked at the skin around her thumb. Seeing Lily Evans and James Potter not fighting, not laughing, but having a casual conversation about Quidditch. Lily and James were never casual. It just never happened. It wasn't in his nature to pry but it was too weird. He was saved from having to ask though when Lily's cracking voice finally spoke up.

"Did he uh… did James say anything about me after Hogsmeade?"

"What?" Eilidh looked as if she couldn't believe her ears. Indeed he could hardly believe it himself.

"James and I… Potter and I had a conversation in Honeydukes and I think I might have hurt his feelings," Lily admitted, holding her hands very still on her knees and looking determinedly at them as if daring them to say that she might actually care about James Potter.

"He was asleep when I came back," Sirius told her deciding it would be best not to tease her especially if her feelings were just developing. He looked at Remus.

"He didn't say anything about you," Remus answered. "He talked about Quidditch practice and a pr - Halloween. He did seem quiet though. And I think Peter actually mentioned him being angry-"

"We'll talk to him. See what happened and try to smooth things over," Sirius interrupted him after seeing the panicked look on Lily's face.

"Um… it's okay you don't have to," Lily said, her hands fluttering everywhere, tucking her hair behind her ear, scratching her nose, adjusting her skirt. "I just don't like hurting people's feelings. But maybe it's for the best. I mean we can't get along. We've tried being friends and it just…." she trailed off her eyes catching an odd distant look. She sucked in a breath, shook her head, and stood. "I'm sorry. Dumbledore's waiting for you, you should probably get going."

Eilidh jumped to her feet and took Lily's hand.

"Lil, I can stay a while if you wanna talk," Eilidh offered.

"No, no. I'm fine I've just got homework to catch up on," Lily smiled tightly and squeezed Eilidh's hand before letting go. "Good luck with those rumours Sirius," she grinned over her shoulder and climbed up to her dormitory.

"Those two." Remus shook his head, staring at the place Lily had left them, a smiling slightly.

"They're ridiculous" Eilidh nodded in agreement and started cleaning up the remnants of their game.

"Lily just needs to admit her feelings," Sirius said.

"And James just needs to get his head out of his arse long enough for her to realise her feelings," Eilidh bit back.

"Okay, are you mad at me or are you mad at James? It's hard to keep up sometimes," Sirius flared. He was tired of her temper. It seemed like they couldn't have a conversation without her getting mad about something.

"I'm not-"

"Liar," Sirius accused.

"Okay, I'm mad! I'm mad because I don't understand what is so repulsive about me, that you would get so upset about people assuming that we're dating! I'm mad that James doesn't see that everything he does to Snape actually hurts Lily! And I'm mad because you are the most frustrating person I've ever met!" Eilidh yelled her face contorted with rage, moving toward him slowly so that she was in his face by the end of it. Remus sighed and sank into a chair. He started organising the gobstones by colours in their case.

"If I found you repulsive I don't think we'd be friends," Sirius said calmly, looking her right in the eyes. She was the most ridiculous person he'd ever met but knowing her temper well it was not a good time to point that out.

"Then why are we friends! Because for the life of me I can't think of another reason you'd be so upset." Eilidh's voice lowered dangerously. Sirius searched his mind trying to find a way he could tell her without hurting Remus.

"They think the only reason why we'd be together is that we're both dark," Sirius answered, his voice a measured calm though his head began to pulse as he said it out loud. Eilidh stepped back, her face relaxed, her eyes searching. "Besides its none of their business who I'm dating."

"Girls are always going around claiming to be dating you, that rumour shouldn't surprise you," Eilidh said quietly, in almost a whisper, and shrugged.

"So you started it," Sirius accused, only half joking. Eilidh looked at him with large, daunting eyes. He thought she was going to start yelling again so he added in a rush: "Does it really surprise you that they think we're dark?"

"No," she answered spitefully. "And I didn't start it and feck you for thinking so."

"Yeah, all right," Sirius shrugged. He was sorry but saying it would be admitting he was wrong.

"He means that as an apology," Remus added, not looking up from his work on the gobstones. Eilidh looked at him questioningly. Sirius gave a half smile indicating that what Remus said was true.

"As I said," Eilidh tutted. "Most frustrating person I've ever met." She moved around the back of the couch to sit next to Remus. Sirius stood unable to move. He wasn't sure what had just happened. Was he forgiven? Was she actually not going to talk to him in muggle studies anymore?

"Eilidh was that you screaming?" James called as he entered the common room, obviously having taken Remus's advice about the shower. Peter came behind him, rubbing his eyes and looking like he just received the rudest awakening. Knowing James, that was probably exactly what happened. Eilidh looked at Sirius. They seemed to have an understanding that James shouldn't know about this rumour - given how protective he was.

"I'd just been called a butt waffle. I needed to defend my honour," Eilidh answered, taking the case Remus had finished with and put it back in its place on the mantle above the fireplace.

James handed Sirius's wand to him looking at each of his friends.

"Sure that's the only thing that happened?" James questioned. Remus cleared his throat and glanced at the pair of them. Sirius knew he wouldn't say anything, that's just not how he was.

"Lily asked about you," Remus said, sounding bored and uninterested but he was watching James out of the corner of his eye. Peter froze in the middle of a yawn and watched for James's reaction. James stuffed his hands into his pockets, scuffed his foot against the floor, and stared into the fire.

"Oh?" he said mildly.

"Yeah, she was wondering if she upset you yesterday when you talked," Remus answered, still watching James. James only hummed in response. "So what happened?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." James cleared his throat and strode for the portrait hole. "We'd better get going, Dumbledore's waiting for us."

Peter, Remus, and Sirius all exchanged looks of concern before following him out the portrait hole and through the corridors toward Dumbledore's gargoyle-guarded office.

"Jellied Slugs," James muttered to the gargoyle and it moved aside, revealing the spiral staircase that led up to their Headmasters office. James knocked on the wooden door three times and a muffled "come in" sounded.

Dumbledore held up a hand signalling them to wait. He was sitting behind his desk writing a letter, the feather of his quill stirring quickly in the air. He finished with a flourish and looked up at them, greeting them with a smile before beckoned them closer.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully. "Please sit down."

Each of them muttered "good morning, Professor" as they took a seat in the five comfy armchairs placed in front of his desk. Dumbledore waved his wand, conjuring tea and biscuits for each of them.

"Your Hogsmeade weekend was quite eventful I take it?" Dumbledore started as he poured tea into each of their cups.

"I thought it was a bit boring actually," James joked.

"Indeed it was a bit dull," Sirius added. Both of them were completely at ease.

Remus sent them disapproving looks. Peter looked at them in awe but then fearfully watched for Dumbledore's reaction. Eilidh nervously twisted her pinky between her forefinger and thumb as she sat with her back rigidly straight in her chair staring directly at Dumbledore with an expression of forced calm.

"How was your cousin Sirius?" Dumbledore asked, his twinkling gaze losing a bit of the usual light-heartedness. Sirius's mouth fell open. This caught him completely off guard so he had no witty return. James looked at Sirius questioningly. Sirius hadn't yet told him about his run in with Andy.

"Uh, she's fine. Got herself one of those screaming monsters, what are they called again?" Sirius answered after he composed himself.

"Banshees?" James offered, with a smirk.

"Babies," Eilidh corrected, barely holding back the urge to roll her eyes.

James gave Sirius a significant look that made no sense to anyone else in the room. Sirius had told him about Andy's baby at the beginning of the year, he was merely asking for confirmation that this was who was being referred to. Sirius nodded, answering his silent question.

"It couldn't have been too dull if you were battling screaming monsters," Dumbledore returned, the twinkle in his eye at full blast. Sirius sat straighter in his chair, a rebellious look lighting his eye. "Please pass on my congratulation to Andromeda."

"I'm sure she'll be happy to receive it," Remus answered when Sirius made no reply.

He was in a staring contest with Dumbledore. The Headmaster looked completely amused by this while his friends around him shifted uneasily. Without breaking eye contact Dumbledore continued.

"I need to speak with you about your hand in the events involving Phineas Abbot, William Barker, and Herbert Saunders."

James snorted and tried to cover his laughter with a cough. Sirius smirked still holding eye contact with Dumbledore. Remus rolled his eyes and allowed his head to fall into his hand. Eilidh sat rigidly still, sending scathing looks to James out of the corner of her eye. Peter started twisting his fingers and gnawing on his lip.

"Excuse me, Professor. I think I might be catching a cold," James said, wiping under his nose for emphasis.

"Madam Pomfrey is an excellent nurse James," Sirius said, still smirking and still staring at the Headmaster, "I'm sure she can give you a poti-"

"Professor," Remus said loudly over Sirius. "We weren't involved with Abbot in any way. We were only there because we heard he might be trying to smuggle something into Hogwarts that was potentially dangerous. We were trying to stop him, not help him. Though admittedly things did get out of hand."

Dumbledore didn't look at Remus while he spoke as he usually would. Instead, he stared at Sirius, his eye boring into him. His look wasn't exactly cold but it was intimidating. It wasn't something Sirius was used to. He did this with his father on multiple occasion and it never left him feeling… submissive. The usual rebellious flame that burned inside Sirius wasn't exactly extinguished, just calmer. James seemed to be catching the effects of Dumbledore's gaze as well because for once there was not a hint of a smirk on his lips. Seeming satisfied with this response Dumbledore turned to Remus, a pleasant expression on his face.

"I did not think for a moment that you were trying to assist Abbot and his friends, that would have been a tremendous misinterpretation of the scene I stumbled upon. What I need to talk to you about, is why you felt the need to take care of this situation yourselves instead of turning to your professors," he told him, his voice so soothing that even Peter seemed to relax.

"We felt we didn't have enough proof," Eilidh spoke, her voice had an odd diplomatic tone to it that Sirius had never heard from her before. She was usually all bite first, discuss later.

"I fairly good reason. However I think that whatever proof you had to convince yourselves to take action would have been suffice enough to convince at least one of your professors to open an investigation," Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair and pressing his fingertips together. He gazed at the five of them as they looked at each other trying to find a certifiable excuse. "I don't blame any of you of course," Dumbledore said quickly before Remus could speak again, "but I do think we need to open communications and create a bond of trust between you and your professors."

The five of them fell silent, the only thing that could be heard in the office was Fawkes's ruffling feathers. They simply did not know how to respond. Opening communications and creating a bond of trust with their professors sounded awful, boring, awkward, and nightmarish. Dumbledore poured milk into his tea and stirred, the teaspoon scraping against the porcelain added to the ambience of the feathers. He sipped and watched them over his cup, waiting for their dumbfounded expressions to pass. James was the first to speak.

He licked his lips, adjusted his position, and asked, "how would you have us do that, Professor?"

Dumbledore took a deep breath, leaning towards them, and answered promptly: "As I'm sure you know, Professor Slughorn has volunteered to plan and organise the Alum Ball." At this Sirius groaned loudly. He had a very good idea where Dumbledore was going with this. Dumbledore continued on as if nothing happened. "Most of the Professors and many of your peers have been enthusiastically assisting Professor Slughorn in doing so."

"And you want us to enthusiastically assist," Sirius said, bitterly.

"I do expect you to assist, yes, your attitude about the situation depends solely on you," Dumbledore responded.

"And if we don't want-" Sirius began, his voice thick with defiance.

"I think assisting with the ball will be a great way to get to know our teachers better. It might even promote house unity." Eilidh spoke with an air of peaceful dissent. It was almost infuriating.

"It's definitely better than detention," Remus said, seeming to speak more to Sirius than anyone else.

"We might even come to do it enthusiastically," Peter added.

"I'm happy to hear that we've come to an accord," Dumbledore nodded. With a patient smile, he turned to James and Sirius. "So, Mr Black and Mr Potter, can we come to an agreement?"

James and Sirius looked at each other, sharing a look of mutual defiance. However James cocked a brow and Sirius nodded, they had no choice but to concede.

"As Remus said, it's better than detention," James nodded, folding his hands together.

Dumbledore nodded his thanks and turned to Sirius, "And you, Mr Black." Sirius, in his last attempts at defiance, remained silent. He merely nodded his head, gritting his teeth as he did so.

"Good," Dumbledore smiled. "I think that if you report to Professor Slughorn's classroom, you'll find a committee of sorts has begun to form. I wouldn't want you to miss out so we'll have to cut tea short."

With polite thanks and swift goodbyes, the five of them left their Headmaster's office without a backwards glance.

"He's so..." James began, apparently failing to find the words to describe his feelings toward Professor Dumbledore.

"Scary," Peter offered.

"Manipulative," Sirius snarled.

"Lenient," Remus said. James, Sirius, and Peter turned to look at him, each with incredulous expressions. "He could have expelled us."

"He's right. We didn't even get detention," said Eilidh, speaking over James's argument.

"He's forcing us to work with Slughorn when I already have to join his stupid club. I'd rather be expelled," Sirius argued.

"Didn't seem like that when we were in there," Eilidh sang, skipping ahead of them. Sirius opened his mouth to argue further but James interrupted him with a hand on his chest.

"Don't," James advised, "it's not worth it. We have no choice but to get this over with." And with that, they made their way into the dungeons.

* * *

 *****bleedingyellow, you're so sweet! I'm really glad you liked that chapter and I hope you like this one as well. You should um... totally write another chapter for Primal Instincts! Please? I wasn't lying when I said I've read it five times.**


	40. The Alum Committee

******* Handwriting: **James, _Sirius,_** _Remus,_ Peter.

 **Warning: Language*****

* * *

Year 4 Chapter 15: The Alum Committee

Lily was sitting at the front of the room with her chin in her hand. Snape was nowhere to be found which was a rarity but she still wasn't alone: Marlene and Mary sat on either side of her.

He found it strange that he was still aware of her movements, even though he sat with his back to her, laughing at Sirius and Peter not being able to figure out that the word he chose was Snivellus when they had the letters S-V-L-S and he had drawn an obscenely large nose on the hanging man's face. They had passed the point of trying to pretend to be listening to the Committee debate and make decisions on a ball he had no interest in attending because the one girl he would ever consider going with hated him so much that the prospects of going out with him "ruined" things for her. The same girl who giggled at something Marlene whispered in her ear - the sound of it caused his stomach to squirm pleasantly yet his heart still ached at her words.

To distract himself he focused on Sirius who had taken the parchment and finished the drawing -adding his own embellishments - before filling in the final letters. Peter finally seemed to get it because he snorted loudly, causing Sirius to laugh, James to chuckle, and Remus to peer at them out of the corner of his eye, smirking. Lily looked over her shoulder at them curious and slightly disdainful. Professor McGonagall sent them a warning look but they carried on, pretending not to care. Pretending that he couldn't feel their eyes on him. Pretending that he wasn't "ruining" things by simply feeling.

"Mr Potter do you have something you'd like to share with the committee?" McGonagall asked in a firm voice. Peter only laughed harder so he hid his face in his hands so quickly his head almost hit the table. Sirius sobered up enough to hide his amusement behind a badly disguised grin. James cleared his throat to stop his laughter.

"Yeah, the theme. Why not make it… Starry Night? We've been talking it over and think it's a brilliant idea," James grinned, barely able to contain himself when he heard Peter hissing with laughter.

"You should have said something sooner, James," Slughorn smiled widely. McGonagall looked at him as if telling him that even if Slughorn hadn't realised he was being played, she did. "We're just voting on our top three choices now." Slughorn pointed to the blackboard behind him where he had written a list of themes.

"Ah, bollocks," James grumbled and collapsed onto the table, using his arms to muffle his giggles.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Potter, for your language," McGonagall said and when Professor Slughorn returned to his blackboard she leant back and whispered; "If you're not going to pay attention you'd better find something quiet to do."

"Yes, ma'am," Sirius promised in a tone of exaggerated sincerity. Remus shook his head and began writing on a piece of parchment, smirking all the while.

 _Not paying attention to the committee! That's quite rude. - R.L._

 ** _Like you were paying attention Moony - the S.O.B_**

 **i thought he was gonna start drooling -J**

 _You're confusing me with yourself, James. You're the one that drools. Why are we calling me Moony? -R.L._

Because we are simply over the moon for you - P.

 **your the mooniest moonchild there is ya LUNatic -J**

 _ **We could go back to Moonchild if you want? - the S.O.B**_

 _Heavens no! But you're still the most obvious people that have ever existed. People will start to notice and ask questions. -R.L._

 ** _We'll just tell them that you really like showing people your butt -the S.O.B._**

 **the perfect back story… get it cuz your butts on your back -J**

 _I am going to kill you both -R.L._

 **death threats? i thought we were friends? - J**

 _ **I don't think Dumblebumbles would like to hear you talking like that - the S.O.B.**_

I don't think 'Dumblebumbles' would appreciate you calling him that -P.

 ** _What are you talking about? You came up with it -the S.O.B._**

No I didn't you did? -P.

 ** _No, look! It's right there - the S.O.B._**

It's literally

James have we figured out what we're going to do for Halloween? -P.

 _ **You can't ignore the obvious, Pete. It's right there! -the S.O.B.**_

I still think dungbombs are a good idea -P.

 _I think it might be a bit too juvenile for what he's trying to go for - R.L._

 **what do u mean 'he'? your helping youve got no choice -J**

 ** _Oh okay, Peter. Ignore me. Fine. I was going to say dungbombs is a fine and classic idea but now I agree with Remus. They're much too juvenile. -the S.O.B._**

Oh gee aren't I clever coming up with a truly awful nickname for our Headmaster? Ha Ha Ha Dumblebumbles will surely go down in history. -P, at his most sincere.

 _Do I really have no choice? -R.L._

 ** _By Godric Gryffindor's pet lion Pete, I had no idea you could be so conceited. Calling yourself clever? - the S.O.B._**

There's no winning with you -P.

 **we cant do it without you! -J**

 **did gryffindor have a lion? -J**

 ** _Merlin himself could raise from the dead just to tell me he didn't and I would not believe it -the S.O.B._**

 ** _Dungbombs are go? We could spruce them up a bit - the S.O.B._**

 _I think I could charm them to delay their reaction. Make sure they explode in someone's face? -R.L._

 **fine. we'll use them for the hufflepuffs - J**

 _ **I think the Hufflepuffs could do with a bit more than dungbombs mate. - the S.O.B.**_

 **there just hufflepuffs? -J**

 ** _You know, I think that's borderline offensive? You're being prejudiced. Moony what do you think? -the S.O.B._**

 _I think we should hear James out before we really decide, but yes I think you're right. Peter? -R.L._

I agree with James. They're just Hufflepuffs. -P.

 **merlins left arse cheek! HAVE you seen them play quidditch! besides they don't really do anything ive never had any trouble with them. -J**

 ** _I think we might need an intervention. -the S.O.B._**

 _You're right, James. They're too nice for anything more than Dungbombs. Intervention for what, Sirius? -R.L._

 _ **Are we forgetting Wilkes? The seventh year who was a Death Eater with Smellfoy. He was a Hufflepuff and I certainly had a problem with him. -the S.** **O.B**_

 _ **An intervention for James's… problem. -the S.O.B.**_

 **dungbombs will be used for ravenclaw then. - J**

 **if ur talking about my gramar - it is not a problem. -J**

 _What were you talking about, Sirius? -R.L._

 _ **Has no one noticed that James's use of 'offensive terms' has increased dramatically? I know we've been hanging out with a crazy Irish woman but that's no excuse -the S.O.B.**_

I have -P.

 **look who's talking! -J**

 _Petition to start a swear jar? -R.L._

 **no. -J**

 _ **No, it's only weird when he does it - the S.O.B.**_

 _That's not really fair, Sirius. -R.L._

 **Ha! intervention cancelled what are we doing to the Hufflepuffs? -J**

 _I never said it was cancelled. I still think we should use a swear jar. -R.L._

 _ **We should get a jar for every time James touches his hair. -the S.O.B.**_

 _He'd go bankrupt and we like Mrs P too much for that -R.L._

 **we should have an intervention for remus's snoring and sirius's singing -J**

 _I do not snore! - R.L._

Ha I don't get an intervention! And yes you do. You sound like a chainsaw -P

 _ **I don't know what that is but yes you do snore. - the S.O.B**_

 _ **Let me live James -the S.O.B.**_

 **what is a chainsaw? and I will let you live as soon as you stop disturbing the peace! -J**

 _ **I sing with the voice of an angel! You're just jealous because you sound like a cat in heat -the S.O.B.**_

A chainsaw is a motorised axe and it sounds exactly like Remus snoring. -P.

 **voice of an angel! hahahahaha that is the funniest thing youve ever said this is why were friends you always make me laugh -J**

 _I thought we were talking about the Halloween prank? -R.L._

Dungbombs for the Hufflepuffs. Sirius singing for the Ravenclaws? -P.

 **perfect! theyll have a headache for a month! -J**

 _ **Or we could just put James on their Quidditch team -the S.O.B.**_

 _ **That might be too mean, we should do that to the Slytherins -the S.O.B.**_

We could steal all their furniture

Or glue all their furniture to the ceiling

Or paint their common room in Gryffindor colours

Or

 **MATE! you can insult me and my hair and my grammar you could even insult my mother but you do NOT mess with quidditch -J**

 **dont insult my mother i will kill you -J**

 _Death threats? I thought we were friends? -R.L. quoting James Potter_

What if we do a scary prank for the Hufflepuffs? Like

 ** _Your mums really good at quidditch why would I insult her? -the S.O.B_**

STOP TAKING THE PAPER! -P.

Lets focus on the prank before you say something that you'll regret. Halloween is only a few weeks away and we don't even have a plan yet, what if we need to order something? -P.

 **your right peter though i always thought sirius was excellent at focusing -J**

 ** _My focus is nothing compared to your drive and determination James -the S.O.B._**

 **sirius you are the kindest person ive ever met where would i be without you? -J**

 _Murdered and thrown into a dumpster -R.L._

 ** _Nonsense! Who would want to kill James? He's the most wonderful person I've ever met -the S.O.B._**

 **im not as wonderful as you honestly you should meet yourself -J**

 _ **Aw, mate, I love you too -the S.O.B.**_

 **not as much as i love you -J**

 ** _Preposterous! - the S.O.B._**

 **contrary, 'tis the most logical evaluation of our relationship -J**

 _ **You are the more lovable one -the S.O.B.**_

 **to that i feel i must agree -J**

 ** _How dare you? I bite my thumb at thee! -the S.O.B._**

 **bite your thumb at me! it is i who bites mine thumb at thee! -J**

 _As entertaining at this is Peter's right. We're running out of time to plan -R.L._

Thank you! Merlin -P.

 _ **Scaring the Hufflepuffs sounds fun -the S.O.B.**_

 **well find a boggart somewhere around the castle and hide it in my trunk till halloween then release it in their common room - J**

 **your rebuttal good sir! -J**

 _ **An excellent idea -the S.O.B**_

 _ **My rebuttal! Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries, how's that for a rebuttal you finky headed animal food trough water! -the S.O.B.**_

 **fucking purebloods man they're so weird! -J**

 _Aren't you a pureblood? -R.L._

 **its questionable, especially after reading that -J**

 _ **JAMES USED A COMMA! - the S.O.B.**_

WE GOT OFF TOPIC! -P.

 _Right. We can't plan to use something we don't have. We might not be able to find a bogart in time for Halloween. Then what? The Hufflepuffs go un-pranked? -R.L._

 _ **The injustice! We could hide in their common room after we're done with everyone else and just jump out at people -the S.O.B.**_

 **Boring. -J**

 _Okay, what if we talked to the ghosts? Maybe they could haunt their dormitories for the night. -R.L._

 _Better idea! Do you guys know about muggle Haunted Houses? -R.L._

 **The castle's already haunted. They see ghosts on a daily basis so it wouldn't be scary -J**

No! Muggle haunted houses are really scary. My brother took me through one once and they made it look like it was a murder scene and that the crazy guy who killed him was still in there and he kept popping up in different rooms. It was terrifying. -P.

 _Yeah, my mum went to one that had an asylum theme. Apparently, a friend of hers couldn't make it through and they had to send someone in to drag her out -R.L._

Yeah, my brother had to carry Zach out -P.

 ** _Who is Zach and why do you have a brother? -the S.O.B._**

 **oh, peter has an entire secret family he didn't tell us about. zachs his little brother who thinks robes are dresses, his older brother is adam and he has a sister and a mum and an uncle. we met them because we went to his house over the summer holiday unexpectedly -J**

They're not a secret. They've just never come up -P.

 _ **I feel like I don't know you at all - the S.O.B.**_

 _So haunted houses? -R.L._

 _ **Do not change the subject Moony! Why is Peter hiding his family from us? -the S.O.B.**_

I'm not they've just never come up and you're the one that keeps changing the subject. What do you think of muggle haunted houses -P.

 **dont know never been in one -J**

 _ **Exactly how can we have an opinion on something we've never experienced -the S.O.B.**_

 _It's decided then. We're doing it just so James and Sirius can form an opinion. It's for the Hufflepuffs right? -R.L._

 **You're doing it then. We don't know anything about**

"Mr Potter," Professor Flitwick called squeakily for their attention so suddenly that Peter jumped and stuffed their scroll of notes into his book bag before James could finish writing. "You and your friends can join our group since you don't seem to have a preference."

James looked around the room and saw that people were indeed forming large groups each led by a different professor. McGonagall had a small group of seventh years already hunched over pieces of parchment, their quills only stopped to dip into their inkwells. Slughorn had the majority of the Slytherin students present gathered around a large amount of linens of various fabrics and colours. Neither of the groups seemed to be doing anything interesting so James decided to take a chance with his Charms professor.

"Merlin's beard Professor, you act as if you don't know you're our favourite," James smirked, gathering his things. He could have sworn he saw Flitwick smile at him before turning away.

Lily was in their group and thankfully not Snape - he was still nowhere to be found but Marlene, Mary, Persephone, Josie, and Eilidh were all present along with a few younger students all of whom were Ravenclaws.

"What are we doing?" Remus whispered to Eilidh when Flitwick's back was turned.

"Food," she said out of the corner of her mouth.

Peter perked up instantly. Remus looked relieved.

"Does that mean we have to make the food?" Sirius asked, looking rather sceptical. Eilidh shrugged and turned forward just as Professor Flitwick settled himself on top of a stack of books so he could be properly seen over the table.

"I was hoping for a representation of each house but I suppose this will have to do," Flitwick said after glancing at the students gazing back at him. "We are in charge of choosing what food will be served at the Alum Ball," he spoke as he passed out parchment and quills to each student. "The ball is supposed to celebrate each house for its uniqueness but also celebrate house unity. So, think about that while you make a list of what sort of food you'd like to be served at the ball."

It could have been his imagination running wild but James could have sworn he saw Lily glancing over the top of her clipboard at him on multiple occasions.

The look could have been reproachful. Perhaps he didn't look like he was actually doing anything. He hadn't written anything down but how exactly could food represent Gryffindor - without getting weird that is. Peter has simply written down a list of his favourite foods (fudge flies were written twice), Sirius wrote Not Dragon Balls, and Remus was, like himself, staring at his parchment hoping that if he concentrated hard enough the words would simply appear on the page.

"Hey Potter," Lily whispered, making Sirius move over so she could sit next to him. James had been so concentrated on not looking at her, he hadn't noticed her movement. Sirius smirked over her shoulder wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive sort of way. "Think of anything interesting?"

"Er-no." James had never been so confused in his life. Hadn't it been just a day ago since she told him he ruined things for her? Was that exactly what she said?

"Bugger off Black, we're having a private conversation," Lily whispered harshly. Sirius had angled himself around Lily and was gazing at them with a stupid and embarrassing expression.

"Evans, love, he's gonna tell me everything anyway," Sirius smirked. He could be so damned irritating at times.

"See if Eilidh's thought of anything good," James ordered rather than kicking him under the table. Sirius feigned a pout then turned away from them.

"So," Lily said, turning to face him again. She bit her lip and scrunched her nose. He was not yet used to her facial expressions so he couldn't tell he she was simply thinking or if she smelt something horrid.

"Yes, Evans," he said, leaning back in his chair trying to look casual and cool and not like there was a storm of emotions brewing inside him just because she was speaking to him voluntarily. It wasn't until he caught her staring at his hand did he realise he was messing with his hair again.

"I was just wondering if you were mad or angry or something," she shrugged, her voice light though she was avoiding his eye.

"Er… no?" James answered. Her question only added to his confusion. He felt that if he spent another moment in her presence he would begin to question if he really knew anything besides Quidditch and dung bombs.

"Okay… good," she straightened up, nodded, and picked up her quill again, rolling it between her fingers.

"Why would you think I was mad?" he asked, picking at the corner of his parchment. What exactly had Remus told her when she asked about him?

"Oh, I just thought I was kinda mean when… yesterday in Honeydukes and I thought I might have hurt your feelings," Lily answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and gripping her quill tightly. "I mean I'm glad I didn't hurt your feelings especially when you were actually being nice I just wasn't expecting it 'cause you're usually… you know what I mean."

"That half of my personality is an annoying prat and the other half is a stuck up butt waffle? Oh, yeah, I know," James joked, trying to ease her nerves because he could see now that she was truly nervous - this was uncharted territory for them. Instead, it only seemed to make it worse. She bit her lip and ducked her head causing her hair to fall around her face. James nudged her shoulder. "Hey, I was joking. Apology accepted if that's what you want."

"As long as we're fine - or as fine as can be between us, then I'm happy," Lily said, looking up and straightening herself again. He really wished he could get her to not look so determinedly indifferent so that maybe he could actually tell what she was thinking.

"I think we're doing excellently for us, so you should be ecstatic," James smirked and cocked an eyebrow. She smiled at him and chuckled though it didn't quite reach her eyes - there was something sad about in them. "What is it, Lily?" he asked, instantly concerned and ready to do whatever needed to be done to banish that sadness.

"Nothing," Lily said, her voice high and eyebrows raised in shock. James studied her eyes. Like Sirius, they seemed to be the only way he could read any emotion off of her.

"Mate," Sirius called, reaching around Lily to thump him on the shoulder. "Eilidh wants Haggis."

"No, I don't," Eilidh protested, her voice came muffled. She had buried her face in her hands. Remus was chuckling though trying to hide it for Eilidh's sake.

"Haggis and cabbage, look at her parchment," Sirius smirked and ripped the parchment out of Eilidh's hands, tearing a corner off in the process.

"You wrote it, you cock nosed butt waffle," Eilidh whispered furiously, her arms stretching over Remus, reaching for the parchment.

"It's pompous butt waffle, please give Evans some respect," James told her, taking the parchment from Sirius's hands. Lily groaned and turned away, smiling. He moved his glasses atop his head and pretended to inspect the writing carefully. Sirius hadn't even bothered to disguise his handwriting but he couldn't help but tease her a little. "Well, Eilidh, if it makes you feel any better I think you're right. You do need to have Gryffindor's courage in order to eat Haggis and cabbage."

"You know this would be hilarious - really, really funny if I were Scottish. Because, idiots, Haggis is a Scottish dish." Eilidh smiled wryly and snatched the parchment back.

There was a moment's pause before Sirius decidedly said, "It's still funny," and James announced his agreement.

"Plenty of people like Haggis," Remus said while Eilidh glared, trying to hide a smirk.

"Are you trying to tell us something Moony?" James drawled.

"Just that you're being inconsiderate to people's tastes," Remus answered.

"Moony likes horse guts," Sirius announced. Eilidh rolled her eyes.

"I think it's sheep," Remus corrected. Neither James nor Sirius had a chance to reply because Professor Flitwick had called for their attention.

"It's almost time to go so quickly write your name on your parchment. We'll discuss everyone's choices during the next meeting. And third years please remember your essays are due tomorrow." Flitwick waved his wand and the parchment flew to the front of the table in a neat pile.

The students filed out, James and Sirius at the front of the crowd. Their conversation didn't end until they had reached Gryffindor Tower. It was discovered the Moony really did like Haggis.

* * *

 *****Monty Python anyone? No, just me? That's cool.**

 **Thanks for reading/favouriting/following/reviewing. You all are awesome.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Xo**


	41. Evasive Actions

*****There are too many references to earlier chapters to do a recap but if you have any questions about something just ask :D XO*****

* * *

Chapter 16 of Year 4: Evasive Action

The Monday after a Hogsmeade weekend was always dreadfully boring, to the point that even watching Peeves startle the first years out of their sleepy stupor couldn't cheer their spirits. The day seemed especially bleak when the ceiling in the Great Hall reflected a horribly blue, cloudless, autumn sky, while they were bound to be indoors all day in class. However, there were rare moments when things would start to liven up usually because of a student in possession of a good sense of humour. In this moment it was Gabe Pevensie helping Frank Longbottom finish his Divinations homework by predicting that Dirk Cresswell would lose his hair by getting his head stuck in a toilet. To which James laughed while bringing a spoonful of cereal to his mouth, dropping it, and hitting his knee on the table while trying to dodge it.

"I predict that James Potter will die of his own folly," Remus said smartly.

"I predict that Remus Lupin will die by suffocating under his own pillow tonight," James returned, clutching his bruised knee.

"At the hand of Jamie's pride," Sirius added with a smirk.

"Pfft, I will die gloriously," Remus said, thrusting out his chest heroically before laughing. "Probably rescuing you lot from some stunt."

"You'll die gloriously on a full moon probably choking on rabbit bones or something," Peter retorted over the rim of his pumpkin juice.

"Shhhhhh," Remus hissed, smiling into a piece of toast.

"Uh-oh, better watch out James," Sirius grinned.

"Mate, the bunny jokes are last year's thing," James said indignantly while messing up his hair and grabbing for a piece of bacon.

"The bunny jokes are never going to end!" Sirius said stubbornly, smirking.

"I have another prediction!" Remus announced, dusting his hands free of bread crumbs. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes, pretending to be channelling his Inner Eye. "I predict that our very own James Fleamont Potter will be slapped in the face by… hang on - I'm sensing something angry… with red hair and something green… could it be - Good morning Lily Evans! What a pleasant surprise!"

Lily had marched over to them looking very angry indeed. Heeding Remus's warning James stood and took a cautious step back as she approached watching for any signs that her hands were about to fly.

"Why is Severus in the hospital?" she asked brandishing a letter at him sounding like she already knew the answer.

"Because he's an idiot," James answered nonchalantly, munching on a strip of bacon.

"I didn't know that idiocy caused people to just spontaneously break out in boils," Lily snarled taking a dangerous step forward.

"It's a new phenomenon. I was just reading about it in the Prophit," James pulled the Daily Prophet out from under Sirius's elbow, ignoring the stupid smirk on his face. "Yes, see its right under 'Mad-eye Moody Does It Again.' He really is an excellent Auror, I wouldn't be surprised if they give him an Order of Merli-"

Lily snatched the paper out from James's scanning eyes and hit his shoulder with it, "If I find out this had anything to do with you-"

"Evans! I know I'm brilliant but honestly, that Moody is genuinely talented," James said, snatching the paper from where Lily held it threateningly pointed under his chin.

"The boils, Potter. The boils," Lily droned in a tight voice.

"Oh…. Evans, I'm shocked at you! Accusing me of giving Snivelly boils without any proof. That's not really fair is it?" James placed his hands on his hips.

Lily flared but instead of biting back she seemed to be thinking hard.

"Mate," Sirius said, trying to get James's attention.

"After the years of lecturing me on 'attacking' people without any proof of wrong doings-"

"-James."

"And starting unsolicited fights, which rarely happens by the way-"

"-Potter!"

"I'd think you'd know better than accusing someone of something without any proof-"

At this Sirius coughed loudly finally gaining James's attention. He gave James a stern look that seemed to suggest that it had been his fault after all. James merely rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Lily.

"Well, I hope you're happy with yourself," James finished, crossed his arms and sat with a "humph."

"Who else would do something like this?" Lily challenged. James shrugged.

"Maybe he did it to himself," Sirius suggested as he snatched a piece of bacon from Peter's plate. Lily squinted at him. Remus huffed as he put his face into his palm. Peter, who was about to take a sip of pumpkin juice, set down his chalice. James arched a brow at him, smirking. "I mean we all know something's wrong with him. Normal people don't have that much grease."

James snapped his fingers in sudden comprehension. "That's why his nose is so swollen! The boils must be the final stage of his disease. May Snivellus rest in peace."

James laughed, looking at Lily hoping she would share in his joke. Lily simply glared at him.

"These are for you," Lily snarled, slapping two letters against James's chest causing his skin to sting. She turned on her heels to stride away but James caught her by the wrist.

"Wait, Lily," James said, suddenly sombre. Lily looked at him, her expression guarded. "I predict that, if you're not careful, you could lose your beautiful hair to Snively's disease." Lily fought furiously against James's grip. "Remember to shampoo regularly, for my sake." Lily ripped her arm free from his grip so hard that she slapped him in the face with the back of her hand. She paused momentarily seeming on the verge of apologising then thought the better of it and strode away.

"Mate, that was absolutely the worst exchange I've ever seen between the two of you," Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, well it's more action than you've ever had," James said, massaging his jaw.

"I predict that Moony will be the next Divinations professor," Peter said quickly over Sirius's reply.

"Professor Moony Lupin, I like it," James smiled, seemingly forgetting about his cheek.

"What did those letters say?" Remus asked, succeeding in averting James's attention.

James picked up the letters from where he had accidentally dropped them on the floor. There was one for himself and Sirius, each addressed in the same loopy handwriting.

"Slughorn," Sirius moaned, tossing his letter down on the table, narrowly missing a plate of greasy sausage. The letters were from Slughorn cordially inviting them to a dinner party the first weekend of November. "I really don't want to go to class today," Sirius said, staring at the back wall though didn't seem to be really looking at anything.

"You can't just skive off lessons," Peter protested. "They'll find you wherever you hide."

"I wouldn't suggest pretending to be sick either. Unless you like the idea of spending the day with Snape," Remus added, sympathetically.

"We could spend the day in Moony's dog house," James suggested, putting his and Sirius's letters into his rucksack.

"Did you just call the shack I change in the dog house?" Remus asked, halting in bringing his bag over his shoulder.

"It's a code name Professor Moony, don't give me a detention," James smirked but Remus still glared at him. "Unless you want everyone to know where you transform into a w-"

"Shut up," Remus ordered through clenched teeth, dragging a hand over his face. "We can't spend the day there, all the professors know about it."

"Ah, but they don't know that we know so they won't suspect," James returned, tapping the side his nose and pushing Sirius out of his seat. Remus opened his mouth to protest further but all of his friends were already making their way out of the Great Hall.

"Fine," he muttered. "As long as we don't spend the whole day there!" Remus ran to catch up with them. "Were the boils your fault?" he asked, curiously.

James looked at Sirius instead of answering.

"As far as I know, that is what happens when you put Blubadox powder in someone's robes," Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"Merlin," James grinned throwing an arm over Sirius's shoulders, "we really are brilliant."

"Brilliant and daft," Remus said. "We cannot skip an entire day of lessons without repercussions."

"We're doing fine in our classes, Moony." James sang, leading them up the stone steps back to Gryffindor tower.

"Besides today's necessary," Sirius argued, following James.

"Right, we've got pranks to plan," Peter agreed, taking the last bite of the toast he had brought with him.

"And a map to finish," Sirius added with a wink.

"And general mischief to manage," James smirked. "We can call it our Break the Rules Day or… Sirius?"

"It's our fuck it day," Sirius said decidedly.

"How 'bout Shenanigans Day, in honour of McGonagall," Peter offered.

"How 'bout the day we get into so much trouble just because Sirius doesn't want to go to class?" Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Doesn't have that ring to it," James replied. "What was it that Wilkes said last year… something about us owning Hogwarts?"

"He said we acted like we owned Hogwarts," Sirius answered obviously and gave the fat lady the password.

"No, he used a word, a good one, that would work perfectly," James said, thinking himself into a headache.

"Are you really trying to name today after your slacking off?" Remus asked in exasperation.

"It was a good word Moony!" James grinned. "Anyway, you and Sirius should go get food so we don't have to come back for lunch. And remember-"

"-don't get caught! Thanks, Mum," Sirius said, pulling Remus out of the portrait hole before he could protest further.

"Oy!" James yelled, clearly affronted.

"She's not my mum, she's my mother," Sirius reassured from over his shoulder just before he disappeared from sight.

Remus's 'dog house' was a small, dingy, old two story house. The windows were boarded and broken, most of the furniture was marked with claws and teeth as was the floor and walls. The room they were in had a four poster bed, not unlike the ones in their dormitory, on which they were all sitting ignoring the groan of the springs. The door was severely beaten where it had been repeatedly fixed with magic after Remus's wolf broke it down in attempts to escape the house. The room contained the only window that was not broken and was boarded up in a strategic way so the light would stream into the room. Crumpled up bits of parchment were thrown aimlessly about the room, as they tried to perfect their Halloween prank. Their rucksacks full of food or potentially useful book were placed against the nearest wall.

They sat with their map of Hogwarts between them, screwing up their eyes in concentration, or daring one of the others to try an oddly coloured Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Bean. Their robes were all but removed in the rising humidity (James's hair, in particular, was reacting horribly to the condition.) They were all thoroughly stumped when it came to the Slytherin prank.

"We could set their alarm clocks all to the same time and hide them or disillusion them or something," Peter offered.

"Nah, too much work," James grumbled, sniffing a bean that seemed to be vomit flavoured.

"We wouldn't be able to get into the girl's dormitory anyway," Remus added, flipping through Extreme Incantations by Violeta Stitch.

"What if we put a Doubling Charm on just one alarm clock?" Sirius suggested, snatching a bean from James.

"So the poor bloke goes to turn off his alarm and ends up with four," James laughed.

"Yeah, mate, that spell is hypersensitive. Like the air blows wrong and the next thing you know your rooms full of whatever, alarm clocks," Sirius said, perking up now that they seemed to have a real plan.

"That still wouldn't work with the girls. We'd have to do something in their common room, like a cushion or something," Remus said.

"We could find a way to take down the wards," James protested.

"Or get a girl to go in for us," Sirius rolled his eyes, "It's not like we have one of those lying around."

"She agreed to help with the Death Eaters, not pranking the school," Remus argued, briefly looking up from his book. "Just use a cushion."

"No, it wouldn't be as funny," Peter said.

"Eilidh will help, she has a sense of humour," Sirius said, throwing a bean at Remus's chest.

"Yeah, Moony stop being so grumpy," James scolded, playfully.

"Fine, but none of you are good at riddles," Remus said, flicking the bean off of him.

"Huh?"

Remus huffed and laid the book out on his chest so he wouldn't lose his page.

"Yesterday, we said that I would be doing the haunted house in the Hufflepuff's common room leaving one of you to the Ravenclaw's with the dung bombs. None of you are good at riddles and that's how you get passed their door," he told them.

"Are you any good at riddles?" Peter asked what he seemed to be the obvious question.

"I'm alright but-"

"So I'll take Hufflepuff," James decided.

"And I'll take Slytherin," Sirius said before Peter could call it.

"But- I'll help James," Peter said, glaring dumbly at Sirius.

"No Pete, we need someone in point position," Remus argued.

"B- couldn't we just irritate Peeves for that," Peter fired, sounding more than a little annoyed.

"He goes too far when we leave him angry and unsupervised," James said matter of factly, popping another bean in his mouth.

"Fine," Peter grumbled, trying not to look too put out.

"Great. Now, what about the Slug Club?" Sirius digressed receiving collective groans from his friends.

"I swear if I have to think for another minute my head will explode!" Peter groaned, throwing himself back onto the pillows at the head of the bed.

"You would know best how to prank a bunch of rich people," Remus said slyly, returning to his book.

"With peasants," James said, seriously.

"And cheap wine," Sirius smirked.

When it came to the Slug Club inspiration seemed to fail them. Everything they came up with, as a joke or otherwise, was either "too boring" or "missing something" or just didn't fit. In a fruitless hope that a change of scenery would spark something in them, they ate their lunch traipsing through the outskirts of Hogsmeade village under James's Invisibility Cloak (until they realised that no one was paying attention - the cloak was discarded.)

With full stomachs and a need for warmth, they returned to their smouldering room in the Shack. They tried to think of something, anything, to do with the Slug Club for hours but they ended up pacing around the room, staring blankly at the wall, lying flat on their back imagining shapes out of the pattern on the ceiling, or rolling moth balls up and down the length of the room. Nothing was as good as their Billywig idea. Unfortunately, Billywigs were nearly extinct and only found in Australia and smuggling one into Hogwarts was too complicated for the end results even when they took into consideration that they'd be using it for Sirius's cat killing cousin.

Abandoning whatever hope they had left thirty minutes into what would have been their final class (double Potions) they cautiously headed to the Three Broomsticks wondering if Madam Rosmerta would have any qualms about serving underage wizards who were supposed to be in school.

She did, at first, have such a problem with it the boys were actually afraid she would literally throw them out but then they made her laugh. Actually, it started with an odd half-smile contorted with her aggressive scowl but Sirius was able to charm her into a grinning "Oh, all right. Just one butterbeer before you go." In the end, they had her in stitches, clutching her sides and laughing so hard she was in tears. Darling Madam Rosmerta sent them home with an entire pack of Butterbeer and a warning not to return by way of the front gate. Of course, they didn't really need the warning.

They snuck back in through the Whomping Willow. James peaked his head through the opening in the roots under his cloak as it was very important to keep the passageway a secret before exiting fully and allowing the rest to follow. They strolled through the castle trying to hide the fact that they hadn't spent the day in drafty corridors and dull classes. It was on their way back to Gryffindor Tower that they saw Lily and Eilidh coming out of the Hospital Wing.

"Fancy running into you here," James grinned, ran a hand through his hair, and leant against the wall stuffing his hands into his pocket in what he was sure was a cool way.

"Yes, especially considering we haven't seen you all day," Lily said suspiciously after recovering from her initial surprise. Eilidh merely sent the other three a significant look.

"Aw, you missed me," James smirked. He remembered the event in the Great Hall quite well (in fact his cheek still stung a little) and he was sure that she hadn't missed him at all but he also knew that the comment would infuriate her.

She did indeed flush a beautiful shade of scarlet but instead of glaring at him and stepping up to him invading his personal space (an act that was more than welcome) she broke eye contact and bit her lip.

"No," she muttered, "but I was looking for you. I wanted to apologise for this morning. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, especially when Severus doesn't even know what happened."

"Er." Guilt. That unpleasant feeling seemed to want to drown him at that moment. He couldn't accept her apology, he had no right. It should be the other way around but he couldn't just tell her the truth especially when things were going so well. She wasn't mad at him. She was talking to him. Pull a Sirius and deflect it. "How do you feel about pranks?"

"Wait, was it you. Please do not tell me it was you," Lily implored.

Abort. Mission Abort!

"I- that's not - I was trying to change the subject!" James stuttered. He couldn't see it but he knew Sirius had that dumbass smirk on his face. "Shut up, Sirius."

"I didn't say anything!" he responded, sounding shocked and rightly so.

"I can hear your thoughts!" James declared, knowing he sounded completely bat-shit crazy but he'd do just about anything to distract Lily from the questions zooming about her mind.

"Eilidh, do you know anything about…." Lily turned her accusatory glare to her completely innocent friend. Eilidh glanced over him once as if trying to determine if he were innocent or not. Strangely he felt as if she could really see through him.

"None of us knew anything about Severus being in the hospital. We were genuinely surprised to hear the news," she said, evasively but effectively.

Lily nodded and turned back toward him, her expression relaxed. A moment's silence fell in which James was, for once, at a loss for words.

"Lily does like pranks by the way," Eilidh said finally.

"When they're practical and enjoyable for both parties," Lily agreed though somewhat defensively.

"It was her idea to give Malfoy a hair loss potion," Eilidh told them.

"That was you guys!" Sirius exclaimed, his eyebrows nearly reaching his hairline.

"Honestly Black, its like you don't know us at all," Lily rolled her eyes, trying to look irritated but there was an undeniable smirk on her face.

"We could use your brilliance, Lily," Remus said with a kind smile. James grinned. Coercion was what Remus was best at.

"We've been planning a few pranks and need a little help," Peter explained, trying his best not to sound too giddy.

"Need is a strong word," Sirius said in an attempt to smooth over Peter's obvious desperation.

"We need your help," James stated. It seemed that desperation would be in their favour in this instance.

Lily and Eilidh looked at each other for a moment. Lily seemed reluctant, while Eilidh seemed to be asking permission.

"I'm in," Eilidh shrugged, hiding her flare of sudden excitement.

"W- we don't know anything about this!" Lily argued. Turning to them she added gently, "and I'm sorry but I've seen your track record and I don't want to be expelled."

"Don't be ridiculous Evans, we wouldn't get you expelled," Sirius said, appalled.

"It's a prank on the entire school. We need your Muggle expertise and your gender to pull it off," James explained.

"Our gender?" Lily asked, sounding sceptical.

"We live in a sexist society, what can I say?" James shrugged.

"If it's for the entire school, they'll want to prank the girls too," Eilidh told her, throwing caution to the wind in letting her mischievous grin show.

"Y- you mean you're breaking into other houses," she whispered, her eyes darting around the corridor looking for eavesdroppers.

"Yes," James said though it sounded more like a question. Lily looked at him then looked back down the still empty corridor, thinking. All eyes were on her as they waited. "I swear no one will get hurt," he whispered, leaning in so she could hear.

Lily looked at him, took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay, you're in?" James asked, excitedly. He tried not to show it but he simply could not help it.

"Yes, I'm in. Could you not announce it to the world?" Lily smiled. Genuinely. Again. Three days in a row he got her to smile at him and not try to hide it.

"Excellent."

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 *****Thank you, GrangerPotterWeaslyMalfoy, for letting me know that you liked my story :D and enough to binge! Ah, I'm so glad you liked it and hope you continue to XO**

 **J, thank you. I was actually beginning to wonder if I was getting too random so thank you. Inkwing has to be some kind of black bird so a raven or a crow or a starling. I don't know my birds very well but if I got it wrong you should post it anyway! It's a great way to develop your writing skills and it's just fun. I wouldn't worry about it being cliche, it's done so often for a reason, right? :D XO**

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 *****Thank you all who have favourited, and/or followed. I get a little thrill whenever I get those notifications. If you haven't shared already I'd love to hear what you think.**

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 **XO********


	42. A Bit of Lily's Internal Conflict

Chapter 16 of Year 4: Halloween 1974

I. A bit of Lily's internal conflict

All day Potter kept looking at her over his book or behind the teachers' backs. At first, it was funny, maybe even a little endearing but now it annoyed the hell out of her. How they ever got away with anything was beyond Lily's comprehension.

To say she was nervous would be a massive understatement (her stomach was in knots by the time it was first mentioned at breakfast) but there was something wonderful about the way her nerves were edged with excitement. It made her hands shake and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, she was hopelessly distracted for the entire day, but she never felt more alive. Besides, there was no way for anyone to ever find out… unless they got caught.

And there was Severus to think about. They didn't lie to each other and they didn't keep secrets but she was working with James Potter. Lily had the slightest inclination that Sev knew. Especially because Potter kept looking at her and she was avoiding his comments on the matter. There was no need for him to ever really find out. It was an innocent prank. Anyway, the feud between Sev and Potter seemed to be at an all time low since Hogsmeade. It wasn't so bad that she was hanging out with him if things were settled between them.

That made her feel a little better and told herself that she only lied about helping to set up a Gryffindor Halloween party instead of going to the feast for the sake of the prank, not because of Potter.

By the time she reached the boys' dormitory, her nerves and all thoughts of Severus were flushed out by a rush of excitement. Their door was already open. Through it, she could see Remus sitting on the edge of his bed replacing his school books with an obscene amount of Dungbombs. Eilidh and Black were sniggering together, sitting on a trunk on the opposite side of the room. Peter was helping a shirtless Potter pin up a sheet over the far wall, probably covering up some kind of damage.

She walked though cautiously, knocking on the door as she did. Eilidh and Black burst into a fit of giggles and Potter spun around. Too scared to look any further than his nose, Lily stared into his eyes, her face feeling warmer than usual.

"You're late, Evans!" He thrust his chest out and put his hands on his hips looking hilariously like Peter Pan.

"I was almost abducted by aliens," Lily said seriously, plopping herself down on Remus's trunk. Potter shook his head looking stern for a second then snorted. "I'm serious. You should get dressed. I heard they prefer their victims half naked."

He looked down at his bare chest, shocked and blushing a little like he hadn't realised he forgot to put on a shirt, and scurried to his trunk.

Eilidh turned to look at her, trying not to laugh. "James was too distracted trying to get the place looking presentable for you."

"It always looks like this!" Potter said, pushing his head through a jumper with a bit of a red tinge on his cheeks.

"When I first got here the floor didn't exist." Eilidh rolled her eyes at Potter who turned around and seemed to not be listening.

"Jamie's cleaning is nothing compared to what he did at practice." Black grinned, watching Potter out of the corner of his eye. Potter threw a pillow at him. He caught it and held it up creating a barrier between his face and Potter. "He would not shut up about y-"

Potter charged Black and tackled him onto his bed. Black thrashed, trying to wiggle himself out from under Potter. Eilidh had to move lest she'd be hit by Black's violently flailing limbs. Potter caught Black's arms and pinned them down.

"Look under that sheet if you get a chance. It's hilarious," Eilidh whispered as she took a seat next to Lily. Lily smiled in response but kept her eyes on the wrestling match on the bed. It looked quite dangerous. Black was able to lift Potter almost two inches before he forced himself back down again.

"Okay, does everyone have all the supplies they need," Potter began with Black still fighting to break free. Remus nodded and held up his rucksack now full of Dungbombs.

"What happens if I run out of inkwells?" Peter asked, holding a small parcel they had filled with inkwells they had "found" around the castle.

"Then take off your clothes and do the chicken dance," Eilidh smirked causing Peter to blush.

"That certainly would be distracting," Remus chuckled, eyes dancing with mirth.

"Peeves is more than likely to join you before you run out," Lily said with a reassuring smile.

"Nah, Peeves is pranking Filch tonight," Potter told her. He suddenly let out a yelp and jumped off of Black, rubbing his side. Black sat up gasping for breath.

"You fat oaf, you could have killed me!" Black yelled and pushed Potter off the bed. Potter caught himself before hitting the floor, whipped out his wand and spun around only to be faced with Black's ready wand.

"Oy!" Lily called, halting Potter and Black mid-action. A duel between the two was the last thing they needed at the moment. "Peter has an issue."

They both dropped their hands with a slight groan of irritation.

"He'll get caught before he runs out," Black said, waving his hand dismissively.

"As long as he uses them sparingly," Potter added as an afterthought.

"So, you're just gonna let your friend take the fall for you?" Lily asked said, indignantly, standing as if in protest.

"That's the point of having someone in Point Position, Evans," Potter explained nonchalantly.

"We usually find a way to get each other out of trouble, Lily," Remus said when Lily continued to look disdainful. "Right, Pete?"

"Right," Peter nodded half heartedly, suggesting that their plans didn't always work.

"So you do have a plan to help Peter?" Lily asked, looking at Potter.

"I fully intend on rescuing Peter, yes," Potter answered.

"That doesn't sound like you have a plan," Lily said, crossing her arms. She raised her eyebrows as Potter rolled his eyes.

"I plan on coming to Peter's rescue and using my brilliance to get him out of trouble," Potter said triumphantly.

"You're an idiot," Lily decided, shaking her head.

"Fine. I plan on using my idiocy to get Peter out of trouble," he returned, looking a little deflated.

"Excuse me, Mr and Mrs Potter, I hate to break up the love fest but we're running on a schedule," Black said, quickly. Lily scoffed, they would destroy each other if they ever were to marry.

"Right." Potter clapped his hands together returning his full attention to the task at hand. "Does everyone remember how to get into their Houses"

"Yes. And everyone remembers what they're supposed to do and that we're supposed to meet back here when we're done," Black said irritably. He counted the things to remember on his fingers then slumped against one of the posts of the bed.

"Fine," Potter said, glaring at Black, "but if something goes wrong -"

"- you're blaming me. Got it. Let's go." Black stood, stuffed his wand into the waistband of his jeans, and led everyone out the door.

* * *

 *****J woohooo! Mischievous Lily is the best Lily. Who knows what those clever boys were planning? Hopefully, we'll get to see it one day :)**

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 *****Hello and welcome to the new followers/favoriters**

 **So, I know a few of you said that you prefer longer chapters but the next few chapters are gonna be really short like this one sorry to disappoint.**

 **As always I would love to hear your opinions on the chapter or what you're hoping/think is going to happen in future chapters, whichever, reviews feed the muse.**

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 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	43. Riddles

II. Riddles

Peter was first to leave through the portrait hole then James and Lily and later Sirius and Eilidh, leaving Remus alone in the common room. He took his time slipping the Ravenclaw Quidditch robes James had "borrowed" for him over his own clothes. Putting the petty theft out of his mind was shamefully easy knowing that the more he looked like a Ravenclaw the easier it would be to enter their Tower. He was a bit nervous to be working alone on a prank. It was something he had never done. What if not all the Ravenclaws had left yet and he was caught. Were Ravenclaws known for being merciful? He could certainly hold his own in a fight even if he was out numbered of that he was confident having taken down a seventh year with one spell only a few weeks prior. Besides the Ravenclaws he knew were nice if not a little odd. The only thing he really had to worry about was that riddle.

He was mediocre at best when it came to riddles. The more he thought about it the more he came to realise that maybe Sirius would be better equipped for this task given his fixation with the Daily Prophet's crossword puzzles. Or even Peter (puns were a kind of wordplay.) But Peter was terrible at charms; he could remember every date of every battle of the Goblin War but ask him to perform a simple summoning charm and he was more than likely to cause an explosion. Sirius, on the other hand, was excellent at charms but he was much too excited to be pranking the Slytherins to even suggest trading places.

So there he was stepping out of the portrait hole on his way to Ravenclaw Tower smirking at the Fat Lady almost screaming with laughter with her usual visitor, Violet. They were so enthralled by their own conversation that they didn't even realise his odd attire. He had been a bit worried to dress up as a Quidditch player having seen how much attention James received, especially after a match, but he was happy to see that he was hidden in plain sight. He passed very few people, mostly prefects, who's eyes only glanced over him once and never lingered on his face - he might as well have been wearing an invisibility cloak.

Having finished his climb of the dizzying spiral staircase that led to Ravenclaw Tower he paused unsure of what to do before a plain wooden door. It had no handle but it did have a bronze door knocker in the shape of an eagle. With a steady hand, he reached forward and knocked once. Without any hesitation the beak of the eagle opened but instead of emitting a bird's cry a soft musical voice sounded: "This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays wizards, ruins town and beats high mountain down.

 _What_? He thought to himself, mulling over the bird's words. _What sort of thing could destroy everything? Obviously, it's something even magic can't fix or else wizards wouldn't be included. An omnipresent force. Death._

Death certainly did seem to be the best answer but he thought that might be a bit too dark. Besides death was in the question - what causes death for everyone and everything.

"Time!" He didn't mean to say it out loud but as the thought occurred to him he felt so sure of himself that the word seemed to burst through his lips of its own accord. Having heard the word spoken he was not so sure of himself and chewed on his bottom lip nervously waiting for something to happen. He didn't have to wait long for the bird's beak to open again.

"Well reasoned," said its tinkling voice and the door swung open.

Pride swelled in him as he walked in. The Ravenclaw common room was wide, circular, and airy. The windows were arched instead of square as they were in Gryffindor and the walls were decorated with fine silks of blue and bronze. Even stranger, the ceiling was domed and painted with stars which were mirrored in the dark blue carpet beneath. It was like he was standing in a small library with the amount of books that ornated the room. Opposite the door was a tall white marble statue of a woman. Remus's curiosity burned inside him. He wanted to explore every corner of the strange room to open every book upon the shelves but he had a job to do. A meticulous job that offered no immediate satisfaction but nonetheless a job so he set to work. Each Dunbomb was charmed so that they would have to be touched in order to be set off then they were hidden from sight, stuffed into arm chairs, hidden skillfully in the bookshelves and door jams. It would be months before they found them all.

He laughed at the thought of what his mother would say to see his hands in the state they were in by the time he had finished. They were covered in dung even when he took the precaution to only hold the bombs by his fingertips. After cleaning his hands with a wet cloth, he wiped down every surface that he touched taking care to leave no clues that he had been there. He stepped back to look at the work he had done and double checked to make sure he had not forgotten anything. He smiled proudly and mentally congratulated himself on the work he had done before heading back to Gryffindor Tower to wait for the rest of them.

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 *****Told you they were gonna be short! Relax the others will be a tad bit longer but Remus's prank was fairly simple and I feel like he's less likely to get caught doing anything. I think it's James and Lily next *squee!***

 **Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear what you think.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	44. Progress

III. Progress

The more James learnt about Lily the more he was impressed, confused, and utterly enamoured by her. She was an odd mixture of things. She worried about everything but at the same time, she was carefree and wild. As they walked for the Hufflepuff House her brow frowned with worry James was instantly concerned.

"You keep making that face, Evans, you'll get frown lines," James warned, teasing her only because he assumed she was worried about getting caught.

"You're the one who's concerned about physical appearances, not me," Lily snapped back, her eyes moving over the corridor as if waiting for someone to pop out.

"I was joking," he smirked, nudging her shoulder, attempting to pull her out what ever mood she had jumped to and make her enjoy herself.

She looked at him briefly before turning back to her search of the corridor and sighed. "Sorry."

Moments passed and she did not relax. In fact, she only seemed to get worse as they got closer to the Hufflepuff House.

"You know we haven't actually done anything wrong yet," James informed her. Her worry coiled off of her and completely changed the mood of the game.

"What's your point, Potter," Lily snapped at him again.

"My point is, if you don't want to be here you don't have to be," James snapped back.

"If you don't want my help then why did you ask?" she yelled, coming to a sudden stop. James stopped and reluctantly turned to look at her. Why did things always end up this way between them?

"I never said I didn't want you here," he said gently, for once making an effort to calm her fury instead of igniting it.

"And I never said I didn't want to be here," she returned, her anger actually calming.

"You're not acting like you want to be here," James said tentatively.

"How exactly should I be acting?" Lily challenged. James studied her. Her brow raised and lips pursed, her posture defensive, her eyes never leaving him. She wasn't worried anymore.

"Like you're not afraid of being friendly with me," James said, taking a leap of faith. It appeared that he was right. Lily's expression fell and morphed into one of mortified panic. It was absolutely ridiculous. If she wanted to be friends with him, she should just be friends with him regardless of what anyone else had to say.

She took a moment to compose herself before responding.

"You can hardly expect me not to be worried about my friend's feelings." Lily chose her words carefully. James nodded in understanding, knowing that she meant Snape. "I really didn't want to bring this up," she said softly, beginning to walk again.

"Hey, if you want we can engage in some not-so-friendly friendly banter," James grinned, setting his whirling thoughts aside for the sake of enjoying his time with her. Lily chuckled softly and flicked a strand of hair out of her eye.

"What is it with you and conflict?" she questioned obviously amused.

"How do you feel about the Holyhead Harpies?" James smirked. Lily threw her head back and laughed. James thrilled. He had caused that.

"I am not going to argue about Quidditch with you," she said resolutely.

"Why not?" James questioned. It was a perfectly natural thing to argue about.

"I would never win," she smiled, a spark finally lighting her eyes. He grinned back at her trying to think of something she knew more about. "Do you know anything about Muggle music?"

"Thanks to Sirius, yes," he answered, intrigued by her question. "Though I admit we have an extremely limited knowledge."

"Hmm, that wouldn't be very fair then." Lily stared off into the distance to think.

"I know about wizard music," James offered.

"And which do you like more?" Lily asked, walking backwards to look at him.

"Wizard. But not because-"

"No one could ever rightly accuse you of being biased against muggles," she said quickly, shaking her head as if that was obvious. "But I do disagree with you."

"On what grounds?" James chuckled, reaching for her arm to stop her from falling down the marble steps for she was still walking backwards and hadn't seen that she had approached the start of the stairs.

"Muggle music has a wider range of emotion. Wizards - all they sing about are hippogriff and goblins," Lily claimed. James gaped at her for a moment.

"Someone needs to educate you on your musical genres. Obviously, Snape has terrible taste in music," James laughed, keeping his voice light. He was testing her, trying to find his limit.

"I have a radio," she laughed.

"Oh, that's why! You're only listening to the radio! I'll have to lend you some records so you can experience the truly emotional power of Valerie Vixen," James said, lowering his voice to almost a whisper as Peter's form came into sight. He was sitting on the bottom step of the marble stairs, trying to balance his box of inkwells on the tip of his wand.

With a finger on his lips, he gestured for Lily's silence and crept down as quietly as he could. Peter had yet to notice their approach. James grinned at Lily who was smiling back at him, holding her breath to contain her laughter. He jumped off the steps and landed in front of Peter. "All right, mate?"

Peter jumped and dropped his box and James dived to catch it before it hit the ground. "Merlin!" Peter breathed with a hand over his chest.

"Get your head in the game, Pettigrew," James smirked, tossing the box back to him.

"Being friends with him for so long I'm surprised you could be startled by anything," Lily laughed, descending the last of the steps.

"He gets you when your most vulnerable," Peter told her, adjusting the collar of his shirt. "Watch for Sprout when you're down there. She hasn't come up yet." James nodded and headed for the door.

"Thanks, Peter," Lily smiled, scurrying to keep up with James. "Valerie Vixen sounds like the name of a porn star!" Lily whispered, her voice echoing off the stone walls. There wasn't really a need for her to whisper but the silence of the corridor set the tone. James stopped in front of the pile of barrels and looked at her completely shocked.

"Too many blokes would fall into chronic masturbation. It'd be an epidemic," James said, squinting at her in the dim lighting.

"I take it you'd be one of them," Lily laughed, looking equally shocked. James felt his face burn as he struggled to find an answer. He was saved from having to speak though when the top of one of the barrels rolled open. James and Lily rushed to find a hiding place in the corridor containing only hanging portraits and a pile of barrels. Wishing he had his Invisibility Cloak he pulled Lily to his side and flattened himself against a darker part of the wall, hoping they would go unnoticed.

"Miss Evans?" Professor Sprout had climbed out of the barrels and looked directly at Lily. "And… Mr Potter. Why aren't you at the feast?"

"We were waiting for a friend," James answered promptly, hardly realising what he was saying.

"She wanted to show us something from her dormitory, Professor," Lily added without batting an eye.

"Which friend? I didn't see anyone in there," Sprout asked, not looking suspicious but mildly concerned.

"Annie Marino. She just got the new Valerie Vixen album," Lily answered, smirking slightly. James felt his face flush again.

"I see. Hopefully, she doesn't keep you too long. Those apple tarts are going fast," Sprout said, barely looking at them as she headed for the door.

"The house elves have certainly outdone themselves," James spoke to Sprout's retreating form. Hearing the door shut behind her he turned back to Lily. "I am never going to live down this Valerie Vixen thing am I?"

"Nope!" Lily smirked skipping forward. She wrapped her wand against the right barrel five times and watched as it slid open revealing the dark entrance to the Hufflepuff House.

"How did you know the password?" James asked her, slightly in awe.

"I have friends." She looked over her shoulder at him before disappearing into the dark.

Upon reaching the Common Room they set to work spilling fake blood on the floor, toppling over furniture, and making a general mess of the place. They charmed bits of the floor so who ever stepped on it would be stuck there. They filled clothes with balloons and tethered it, so it looked like a man standing in a dark corner. For their final touches, they locked the doors to the dormitories and stole all the candles so the only light in the place came from the fireplace.

Sniggering and smirking with each other they left the Common Room quickly and hurried out into the Entrance Hall. Peter was still sitting on the bottom step looking incredibly bored as he twiddled with his wand.

"Don't look so excited, Peter, you'll give everything away," James said, sounding slightly annoyed, beginning to ascend the stairs.

"A couple of students just went up that way," Peter informed looking up at him.

"You didn't stop them?" James stopped, suddenly concerned for Remus.

"They were Slytherins. I figured as long as they weren't returning to their house it wasn't a problem," Peter shrugged. James nodded, his concern lessened considerably.

"I'll be back for you in a mo. I just wanna make sure Evans makes it back to the Tower okay," James told him, marching up the stairs again. Surprisingly, Lily didn't say anything. She followed in silence all the way up the marble staircase until the silence nearly killed him.

"You wanna see what the Slytherins are up to?" James asked.

"They're probably not doing anything interesting," Lily answered with an odd expression on her face.

"Let's take the long way back to the Tower. Maybe we'll run into them," James smirked. Lily sighed but followed him.

Run into them they did.

James and Lily quickly checked the library. With no sign of anyone having been in there for some time they left.

"Maybe they went to the Astronomy Tower. People like to go there for dates," Lily told him, a note of apology in her voice.

"It is a pretty clear-"

"Out of the way mudblood!" a younger Slytherin snarled pushing past Lily hard enough for her to stumble. His companion laughed.

"OY!" James called furiously.

Lily caught his arm and pulled him back. "James it's alright."

"We're not afraid of you," sneered the second.

James ripped out of Lily's grip and pulled out his wand intent on making them fear him. Lily ran in front of him and stopped him with two hands on his chest lightly pushing against him. James looked past her knowing that if he looked her in the eye he would stop so he glared at the two Slytherins with a threatening snarl on his lips.

"James you don't have to fight everyone. Some people you just can't convince," she whispered. When he didn't respond she gripped the front of his robes and shook him a bit. He had no choice but to look back at her. He was instantly powerless, lost in her eyes. His pounding heart calmed and his grip on his wand slacked. "Please, James, put it away. It's not worth it."

James breathed deeply and stuffed his wand back into his pocket. He gently he pushed her hands away and stepped around her, looking at the two Slytherins again noticing for the first time a subtle hint of apprehension on their faces. He approached them slowly and as he did their fear grew.

"Her name is Lily," James said pointing behind him to where Lily stood, needing to correct the name they had called her first and foremost. He was careful to hold their gaze even as their eyes flashed to her. "She would do anything for you, even after what you just did. That kind of person deserves your respect." They nodded vigorously, not daring to disagree with him. "If I ever hear that word coming out of either of your mouths again, you'll be eating slugs for a week. Got it?" They nodded again. One of them turned to scurry away. The other look at Lily again.

"Sorry," he said meekly and without waiting for a response followed his friend.

James very reluctantly turned around. He didn't know if she would consider that to be too far. He really didn't want to have ruined things between them especially when things were going so well.

However, her expression wasn't angry but soft and thoughtful.

"It really wasn't worth it," she said quietly looking at the arms she held folded against her chest.

"I thought it was," James told her honestly. He had never seen her looking so vulnerable. His heart clenched with sudden sympathy - she was just a girl. "Lily, you're worth it. You're worth a million times that. And even if you weren't you wouldn't deserve to be treated like that, no one does."

Lily's head shot up suddenly as tears sprang into her eyes. James barely had time to blink before he was blinded by her hair as she collided into him with a force that nearly knocked the wind out of him. He stepped back to regain his balance and wrapped his hands around her waist. Her hold on his neck tightened slightly as the rest of her relaxed into him. His brain had gone haywire. Every inch of him seemed to tingle. There was a strange sense of comfort in the embrace that settled his stomach and completely calmed the beast that raged inside him. She pulled away a second more than what would have been considered appropriate for a platonic hug. Hope bubbled in his chest. With the heel of her palm, she dried her eyes as she gripped his shoulder with her other hand.

"Thanks," she chuckled.

"Your friends are awful," he told her. He hadn't said anything to evoke that reaction out of any normal person.

"You're friends with some of my friends," Lily reminded, smiling.

" _Most_ of your friends are awful," he corrected. She laughed shaking her head.

"Come on. Take me back to the Tower." Her hand brushed against his when she walked past him. He wanted to reach out and take it in his own but he didn't want to push his luck so he walked her back with his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

* * *

 *****Look at my babies getting along and showing affection! asdfghjkl!**

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	45. Sound the Alarm

IV. Sound the Alarm

Traipsing through Hogwarts under an Invisibility Cloak with someone who was not James had been odd for Sirius. Stranger still was waiting for the Slytherin Common room to completely empty, encased in a distantly familiar floral scent instead of James's natural musk. Waiting there with Eilidh instead of James, trembling with excitement for their prank, was (he hated to admit) rather refreshing. At this point, James would have gotten bored and would suggest sneaking back into Snape's room to use the rest of his Bubotuber powder. Instead, Eilidh seemed to savour the anticipation of the moment; she still grinned excitedly, her eyes flashing dangerously whenever a Slytherin came near enough to touch. It was almost unnatural to see the similarities between her and James though. Like the way she clenched her hands as a large group of Slytherins left the Common Room. James would have done the same thing to stop his hands excitedly drumming his thighs in a moment they needed to be silent. Or when the Common Room finally emptied: A normal person would have waited for at least a fraction of a second to see if anyone else would come down from the dormitories. Instead, like James, she pulled the cloak from over their heads before the door had completely closed and was on her feet before Sirius had time to put the cloak away.

She peered up each staircase leading to the dormitories then turned back with a satisfied smirk. "You ready?"

"Always," he muttered, pulling his wand out of his jeans. "You be careful up there."

She had already started moving up the stairs when Sirius suddenly felt worried about leaving her on her own. What if she was too eager and wound up acting foolishly? If she got caught in the Slytherin dormitory she was not likely to be met with mercy and there'd be nothing he could do to help.

"Always." She repeated, grinning over her shoulder barely pausing her steps. She was good with a wand. She had proven that much in Hogsmeade so he was able to push the thought out of his mind and focus.

Reaching the top of the stairs he stopped for a moment, wondering which dormitory he should use. He pictured multiplying alarm clocks ringing in the early hours of the morning, spilling out of the dormitory and into the hall, eventually spreading into the Common Room. He decided on the one in the middle figuring it would be the most likely to wake everyone up, which would lead to more people touching the cursed clocks.

He waited outside the door listening for any sounds of life from within. Opening the door, he saw only the glowing eyes of a cat purring at him from under the bed. Looking around he spotted one alarm clock on the bedside table furthest from the door. Striding forward, careful not to let the floorboards creak, he heard the definite sound of someone's head hitting the wall adjacent to him followed by a muffled string of swears. Sirius ran forward, grabbed the clock, changed the alarm time to an unholy hour, set it back on the table making sure it wasn't bound to touch anything and tapped his wand against it muttering, " _Gemino_." He peaked his head through the door before running down the hall and into the Common Room, making for the foot of the girls' dormitory steps, intent on hurrying Eilidh.

"What are you doing here?" A thick voice cut through his peaked excitement with a jagged edge, successfully annihilating it. Regulus was sitting in an arm chair on the opposite side of the room with worry and fear etched into his face. He set down a book on the coffee table and replaced it with his wand. Sirius couldn't answer, his own shock had clouded his mind, making him unable to speak. By the time he regained control of himself, someone was pounding his way down the steps. Sirius tightened his hold on his wand and prepared himself for who ever was about to come through the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded a strident voice. Rabastan Lestrange came face to face with him upon entering his Common Room. Rabastan was a full eight years younger than his brother and Sirius's cousin-in-law Rodolphus. He was only a year older than Sirius, but he had such a superiority complex that he treated Sirius like a child. Sirius never cared much about the Lestranges. For the most part, they ignored his existence just as much as he ignored theirs.

Sirius turned back to Regulus whose eyes shifted frantically between the pair.

"Came to visit my brother. It's a holiday isn't it?" Sirius answered, this time not skipping a beat. He caught Regulus's eye, begging him to go along with it.

"Bit strange. He's never done that before has he?" Rabastan asked Regulus, suspiciously.

Regulus opened his mouth and for a split second Sirius believed that he would help. Sirius felt a premature rush of gratitude toward his brother. But then, Regulus stood there, mouth agape, his words seemed to be caught in his throat as his eyes tore from Sirius's face to Rabastan's. Feeling stung and foolish, Sirius raised his wand to Rabastan's chest and silently shot a Stunning Spell at him. Rabastan deflected it having already had his wand in hand as Sirius had expected.

"Eilidh!" he screamed urgently - they needed to get out of there fast. He vaguely heard her answer as he deflected spell after spell Rabastan shot at him. He avoided looking at Regulus at all costs. He didn't care to see Regulus standing there like a codfish watching as someone tried to beat the crap out of him. He especially did not want to see Regulus raising his wand against him - any curse he could be hit with would be better than that sight. "Eilidh hurry up!" he screamed again as jumped off the back of the couch to dodge Rabastan's advances. Rabastan shot another spell and Sirius ducked down and rolled hoping it would bounce off the wall and hit him instead. When he jumped back up he saw Regulus opening the door to the girls' dormitory. Two things came to mind: He was either opening the door so the noise of their duel would alert Eilidh and she'd come to his aid or he was luring her into an attack. He didn't want either of those. He didn't really need her help, besides she could get hurt.

Sirius lurched forward and Rabastan raised his wand in defence, assuming he was advancing to attack. Instead, Sirius reached down and hurled the coffee table toward Rabastan. The table would have hit Rabastan if he hadn't shot it out of his way, but it was the distraction Sirius needed. He was able to curse Rabastan's wand by muttering " _Anaticula_ " knowing that the next spell he'd use, no matter what the spell, would only cause ducklings to fly out of his wand. With that in mind, Sirius was able to push Regulus out of the way just in time for Eilidh to finally get down the stairs.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. Sure enough, they had to make their way through half a dozen ducklings. Rabastan was looking stupidly at the tip of his wand. Sirius pushed Eilidh through the door. As he turned around to shut it behind them, he saw Rabastan successfully curse a pillow causing feathers to litter the couch.

Imagining what that curse might do to him, fear fluttered through him for the first time in a long time. He raced to catch up with Eilidh. It wasn't long before he heard Rabastan's steps echoing off of the stone walls of the dungeon behind him. Eilidh was waiting for him at the exit.

"GO!" he ordered, hearing Rabastan's hurried steps growing closer. Instead of running she waved her wand to block a spell. She took him by the sleeve and pulled him into the Entrance Hall. Peter was already getting the third degree from Professor McGonagall while several students fruitlessly tried to scrub ink stains out of their clothes.

A large group of people was exactly what they needed. They slinked passed McGonagall unnoticed.

They met James at the top of the stairs. He didn't seem to notice their panic nor Sirius's urgent tugging against the hold on his arm.

"I need my cloak!" he hissed, urgently tugging back.

Sirius didn't have time to think about what James might be up to. He threw the cloak at him and pushed Eilidh away from Gryffindor Tower toward the tapestry that would take them to the third floor. He prayed that Rabastan didn't know about the passage but knew it was unlikely. They jogged down the third-floor corridor, dodging students returning to their houses, casting fervent glances over their shoulder.

"I think we lost him." Eilidh gasped, bending and resting her hands on her knees to help catch her breath.

Sirius mirrored her position, too exhausted to respond. He didn't think they had lost him but merely put a distance between them. It wouldn't be long before he'd find them again if they wasted too much time. He tapped her shoulder indicating that she should follow as he walked quickly, his lungs burning too much for him to actually run, for the nearest staircase.

Going to the staircase was a mistake. Rabastan spotted them through a crowd of students pushing their way up the stairs and pointed them out. Evan Rosier spun around searching for them directed by Rabastan's finger. Eilidh and Sirius lurched forward, fighting to lose themselves in the sea of students.

No matter how many erratic turns they took, Rabastan never lost sight of them for too long. Every time he spotted them again, he gained more friends. By the time they reached the sixth floor they were being pursued by an army of Slytherins coming from all over. It seemed they had split up, searching for them in twos and threes.

"I have an idea!" she called breathlessly over her shoulder.

"Good! Cause I'm bloody out of them!" Sirius called back, dodging yet another spell. Mulciber had joined the ranks and he, Rosier, and Avery were quickly gaining. If they didn't make it to Gryffindor Tower soon they were toast. She reached for him and pulled him into a less populated and darker corridor.

"Kiss me," she said. Her tone had a note of panic but when she looked him in the eye her gaze was sparked with excitement.

"What?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he heard her properly over the sound of his blood rushing and heart pounding in his ears.

"People are weird about PDA," she said matter of factly as if this would make him see her point.

"I know!" He almost laughed. Displays of affection of any kind usually gave him discomfort to some degree but public ones were worse and never failed to make him physically nauseous.

"Get out of the bloody way!" he heard Mucibler shout distantly.

Eilidh rolled her eyes, grabbed a fist full of his robes, and pulled him to her. Their lips came together almost violently painfully at first but then they softened. Her lips were like rose petals against his as his nose filled with the scent of jasmine.

He had told his friends that he had kissed lots of girls lots of times but this - this was his first kiss.

He knew he wasn't doing it right (wasn't he supposed to do something with his tongue?) He also knew - almost instantly - that he liked kissing. He liked kissing so much that when Eilidh pulled away he felt the absence of her lips and longed for another kiss.

"I think they're gone," Eilidh panted, looking down the corridor they had come from.

"Good," he said, staring at her. He had almost forgotten about the Slytherins. Eilidh looked back at him. She glanced at his lips and he felt them start to tingle. Would she do it again?

"Sorry about that," she blushed. Her cheeks were actually red as she looked down at her shoes, scuffing one of them against the floor. His mind flashed with a million things he could say and probably should say but for some reason, he just didn't say them. "I - er - didn't know what else to do."

"No - yeah - don't worry about it." He finally said something and that is what he chose. His brain seemed to have been disconnected from his mouth. He had snogged this girl (or she snogged him, but it didn't matter because snogging was definitely done) but he couldn't think of anything to say. He felt like he should say something. Anything! But no words came to mind, it didn't help that he couldn't get the scent of her off of him. He was confused more than anything. How was he supposed to feel about this? He didn't know if he just liked the kissing or if he actually liked her.

"We should… get back to the Tower," she suggested slowly, carefully measuring his expression. "Before they come back."

"Yeah," he said, his voice sounding unnatural even to himself. He didn't think he could manage more than one-word sentences at this point, he was too lost in the thoughts swirling around his head.

* * *

 *****And so the tectonic plates shift and the entire world crumbles!**

 **Seriously that's what it feels like while I'm over here holding my breath waiting to see what effect this chapter had. Am I going to faint and wake up to find that all of my beloved readers have left due to severe disappointment?**

 **I am being a little dramatic I know but ugh ya know?!**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and following and favouriting. You all are great it's been real...**

 **What do you mean you haven't left yet?!**

 **Ok, I'll stop!**

 **I got a new beta. Her names wowbadideas and while she's an amazing beta she's an even better writer. SO you should totally go check out When You Give a Gryffindor a Slytherin. It's not about the Marauders but it's about life at Hogwarts after Voldemort died and it's got Harry as a professor which in my opinion is how it should always have been.**

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 **Until next time,**

 **XO***


	46. Invincible

V. Invincible

Why was it that Peter always got the most boring jobs? He wasn't completely useless. There was a bigger risk being out in the open, he supposed that was something. Wouldn't it be impressive if he didn't get caught? Then, just maybe, his friends would let him do something exciting for a change. He only had thirty-two inkwells; it was very probable for him not to get caught if he did it right. Most of his colleagues were back in the dormitory by now anyway. All he had to worry about was the Slytherins, so did he really have to use the inkwells sparingly?

Pulling himself into a standing position, he looked around the Entrance Hall for someplace he could hide while chucking inkwells at people. The suits of armour didn't offer enough coverage; no matter how he positioned himself, his legs were much too visible. The broom closet offered the perfect cover, but the door hindered his movements, and he wouldn't be able to throw things very well. If he hid in either the dungeons or the Hufflepuff corridor, he'd be seen and it would give everything away. The classrooms' corridor was too far away for his aim. Wishing he had James's Invisibility Cloak, he slumped back down onto his step and sprawled out, looking up at the ceiling. Looking particularly at the chandelier - the chandelier in which Peeves often hung to throw things at them. Peter sprung to his feet making himself slightly dizzy. Wondering how mad James would get once he found out, he pointed his wand in the direction of Gryffindor Tower and said, "Accio James's broom!" concentrating hard on the broomstick James so lovingly kept wrapped up under his bed lest someone try to steal it from the Quidditch changing rooms.

Moments later, the broom zoomed through the air and stopped waist level in front of Peter. He could see his shadowy reflection in the well-polished handle. He could feel it vibrating knowing it was time for take off. This was James's Quidditch broom and one of his most prized possessions. Still, he let them borrow it a few times. Sirius even took it once without permission and all he got was a "Mate, that's my broom!" It's not like he took the Cloak - that he was possessive about.

He took hold of the handle. Feeling it sway slightly under his grip made him suddenly remember his fear of heights. He didn't have time for second thoughts. There was a sudden rush of footsteps emitting from the Great Hall. He swung his leg over, gingerly eased the broom handle up, remembering how quickly this broom responded to touch and flew over to the door of the Great Hall just as it burst open.

A great flood of students quickly filled the hall as Peter stumbled for the box he stored in the pocket of his robes. He fumbled trying to get the box open and several inkwells dropped to the floor causing several students to shout in shock, jump out of the way, or look up at him probably expecting to see Peeves.

"Peter Pettigrew!" McGonagall called out in surprise. She had no doubt come to see what her students had shouted about and was now staring up at Peter with her mouth agape and eyebrows frowned half hidden behind her square spectacles. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Slytherin students heading toward the dungeons. He knew that Eilidh and Sirius were still down there so instead of responding to his professor, he jerked the broom's handle causing himself to shoot forward a bit more aggressively than he wanted but was able to stop. He grabbed a fistful of inkwells and dropped them at the feet of the Slytherins. They scattered and looked indignantly up at him. He merely laughed, his height giving him a sense of invincibility, and threw more - watching as the glass broke at their feet splattering ink onto the hem of their robes. They ran farther from each other toward the front door, others up the stone steps, the rest back toward the Great Hall in the safety of McGonagall's presence. All of them had their wands pointed at him. Still feeling invincible with an undeserved amount of confidence he grinned and dived forward, spinning so he'd dodge their spells in a way he'd seen Quidditch players do to avoid a bludger. However, Peter wasn't half as talented on a broom as those Quidditch players. He stumbled and lost his balance halfway through the first spin and fell, dropping his box of inkwells. He reached upward, frantically grasping for the falling broom handle. Finally, he was able to grab hold of it just as the box landed with a shatter. He clutched himself to the broom, holding on for dear life. He tried to swing back on but found he didn't have the strength. The students on the ground laughed as Professor McGonagall strode furiously toward him, avoiding the huge pool of ink.

"Mr Pettigrew!" McGonagall said severely, her nostrils flared and her lips so thin they almost disappeared.

His insides squirmed. He knew she wanted him to come down but he could not move and he certainly didn't want to drop.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" Peter grunted as he tried to keep his hold on the handle despite his sweaty hands and inexperienced muscles working against him.

"Get down here," McGonagall ordered in a voice of measured calm with one severe finger pointed to the very welcoming floor. Peter could not be more inclined to do as he was told had he been Imperiused. It was the distance between his hanging feet and the floor that caused his fingers to tighten their hold on the broom's handle of their own accord. It was the magic in the broomstick that held it into place seemingly hundreds of feet in the air that forced him to hang.

"I can't, Professor," he said meekly, staring determinedly at the ceiling so he could slow his now sporadic breath. Where had that invincible feeling gone? He ignored the giggles from the growing group of Slytherins below him and focused on glueing his hands to the broomstick and blinking back the pricks in his eyes. He heard McGonagall sigh heavily in exasperation, a sound that seemed to reverberate through the room louder than the students' laughter.

"Try to edge forward, toward the end of the broom handle," McGonagall advised, her voice now calm, patient, and much kinder than he had ever heard it. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. Feeling a bit foolish, he relaxed his grip on the broomstick, just enough to allow his hands to edge forward. The broom tipped at the shift in weight and began to descend. It was slow but the sudden movement frightened him and he fought against it.

"It's alright Peter. I won't let you fall," McGonagall vowed. He looked down at her, her face kind and no longer stern, her wand ready to catch him should he fall. He felt a rush of affection for his professor and he lightly tugged the broom handle downward letting the broom do the work. He landed on the balls of his feet. McGonagall lifted the broom from his hands letting him settle onto his feet the rest of the way.

"Where are Potter and Black?" asked Professor McGonagall returning to her usual professionally brisk manner. Peter shrugged, indicating that he didn't really know hoping that she would assume they weren't involved.

"Back in our dormitory," Peter said, his throat tight and tears brimming thinking of Sirius trapped in the Slytherin house while the Slytherins were now slowly making their way back to their dorms. He had failed his friends in possibly the worst way. He cursed himself for being bitter with them at the start of this. They had trusted him to keep them safe, to keep their adversaries at bay and he had failed.

McGonagall arched one severe eyebrow and looked him over with such scrutiny, he was beginning to wonder if she had known about everything all along.

"Did they put you up to this?" She questioned, determinedly keeping eye contact. He looked back into her eyes wondering if he dared lie to her. With a dry mouth and a heavy tongue, he urged himself to speak.

"No, ma'am," he said, as his voice cracked and eyes burned with the tears that threatened to spill. McGonagall straightened her stance so that she was no longer eye level with him. Her lips returned to the thin line, her brow frowned, her square spectacles now slipping down the bridge of her nose as she looked down at him. Peter shrunk and blinked allowing the hot tears to fall silently down his cheeks.

Before McGonagall could speak however a puddle of ink seemed to explode splattering her green robes black. Her eyes shut and nostrils flared as every inch of her tensed. On the opposite side of the previous splatter, Peter saw a puddle of ink beginning to rise. He flinched and stepped back a fraction of an inch, knowing he could do nothing to stop it. The floating ink shot out suddenly and hit his professor, successfully covering her top half in black ink. Her eyes flashed open and her cheeks flushed.

"Stop it," McGonagall ordered firmly.

"I-" Peter began trying to explain that it wasn't him, that he had no idea what was happening but he didn't have a chance. A third puddle exploded, this time behind Professor McGonagall. She turned around whipping out her wand. She waved her wand in a sharp motion around the room and vanished the remaining ink and shards of broken glass.

In one swift motion, Peter felt the rush of air from a swooshing cloak, a heavy calloused hand clasp over his mouth, and James Potter's breath on his face shushing his startled cry into silence.

"Mr Pettigrew?" McGonagall called out firmly after she turned back around and no doubt found that he had disappeared. James guided him backwards, toward the stone steps, barely missing the tips of McGonagall's outstretched fingers feeling the air where Peter once stood. The bannister of the staircase prodded his back and startled him back to his senses.

"Sirius is still in the Slytherin's dungeon," he whispered so low it was a wonder James was able to hear him.

"No, he's not. Go." James urged him forward, up the steps. Relief washed over him. He had not completely failed his friends. The only thing he had to worry about was himself. How the hell was he supposed to get out of detention after that?

* * *

 *****GrangerPotterWeaselyMalfoy: Oh, thank Merlin! I'm so glad you liked it and thank you for telling me that you did - you feed the muse!**

 **J a friend, Imma read it right now... after I post this. *****

* * *

 *****Ok, I don't mean to sound like a conceited asshole but I feel like this is my best Peter chapter so far. I actually like this one and I usually hate my Peter chapters (but I post them anyway because I'm an idiot.)**

 **Enough bragging!**

 **I need your opinions on something. I've been thinking about posting more chapters from the girls' P.O.V.s (cause they're fun and they do things that the marauders aren't involved in) Not just Eilidh and Lily but Marlene, Mary, and Josie too. So would you be into that? or nah? Ooooh, maybe I should make a poll! I've never done that before... Would you guys answer if I made a poll? I guess I should try it.**

 **How are my American readers? Its been crazy. I hope you guys are doing okay.**

 **All rights reserved to the Queen (who is totally Rita Skeeter in disguise, don't tell me she's not!)**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	47. Cake Wars

Chapter 17 of Year 4: Cake Wars

And so it transpired in the week that followed: Remus never got caught, though there was some slight suspicion when news of James and Lily pranking the Hufflepuffs got out. They received a week's detentions each writing lines with Professor Sprout. Peter served three detentions with Filch polishing trophies for his conduct in the Entrance Hall. While he may have been in James's blackbook for getting his broom confiscated until the next Quidditch match, thus being forced to use the school's ancient Clean Sweeps at practice, it was nothing compared to what Sirius faced during that week.

It seemed that around every corner, behind every door there was an angry Slytherin hell bent on obtaining their revenge for their one night of poor sleep. Worst of all he knew who to blame for spreading the word throughout the house. The one person he'd never raise a wand against. Why else would he be their only target when he had an accomplice? So he spent the week battling only those who were in his face, ignoring the bigger problem, sulking, growing quieter and broodier as each day past. What he needed was a distraction - a Gryffindor type, colossal sized, Potter extravaganza - that much was agreed upon. Everything was set in stone ten minutes before breakfast in the Common Room exactly one week later.

Sirius stumbled into the Common Room looking for his friends, unbeknownst and therefore completely surprised when he got a face full of funfetti. The room filled with loud noise makers and shouts of, "Happy Birthday!"

Sirius chuckled, wiping his face clean on his sleeve. "It's not my birthday."

"We couldn't do it on your actual birthday," James grinned, taking a defensive stance, knowing what was sure to come. "It wouldn't have been a surprise."

Without bothering to respond, Sirius bent, grabbed a large chunk of cake that had fallen to the floor, and threw it hitting James squarely in the chest. They charged and collided and rolled and threw getting cake and frosting everywhere. Lily and Eilidh jumped up onto a table to avoid the mess.

"When they sent us to the kitchen to get the cake I didn't think he was going to throw it at him," Eilidh laughed.

Lily shook her head and smiled as she watched Peter build a barricade of couch cushions to avoid James's and Sirius's attacks. "Do you think they'll ever stop surprising us?"

"Learn to expect the unexpected," Remus advised before sneaking up behind Peter to stuff a fist full of frosting down the back of his shirt. Peter shrieked and writhed away from Remus. James and Sirius laughed then moved their attention away from Peter to Remus.

"Potter!" Alice Prewett - the 6th year prefect and Frank's secret girlfriend - stomped forward looking irritated but thoroughly amused.

James stepped behind Sirius, threw a fist full of mush over his head, and politely gave Alice his full attention. "Yes, Prefect Alice."

"You promised you wouldn't make a mess." Alice said, waving her wand to block Peter's ill aimed cake.

"Oh," James shrugged, smiling sincerely at her. "I lied."

Alice rolled her eyes, stepped up onto the coffee table between James and Sirius and Remus and Peter, waved her wand again and all things froze; Peter behind Remus licking frosting off of one of his fingers, Remus approaching James with both frosting covered hands outstretched, James about to jump for the last bit of solid cake, Sirius with his eyes wide and panting.

"Holy shit," Sirius breathed, his lips twitching into a smile. Alice, paying no mind to his comment, waved her wand over him making him once again clean.

"Happy Birthday Sirius," Alice smiled.

"Thanks," Sirius muttered, his eyes still examining his frozen friends.

"The girls and I got you a present but you'll have to wait for tonight for it," she told him.

"You didn't - what about tonight?" Sirius asked thoroughly confused about why Alice would ever get him a present and why he had to wait for tonight. His eyes flashed to Lily and Eilidh still cowering on the table now looking slightly panicked as they shook their heads wildly at Alice.

"We're just putting the finishing touches on it, that's all," she smiled tightly and before he could ask any more questions she jabbed her wand at the frozen three. James hit the floor, Remus dropped his arms looking quite relieved, and Peter wiped his hands down the front of jeans, his cheeks pink. "This is the Common Room not your dormitory. You'll have to clean some of this up before you go to breakfast. I'll send a house elf up to do most of it but please clean up the big stuff. Sirius, you're pardoned of course."

The portrait swung shut behind Alice and immediately Sirius rounded on his friends.

"What have you done?" he demanded in exasperation.

"I wanted to call it 'Cake Wars', but Remus said it was our 'Birthday Tradition'," Peter answered, accepting the rag James handed to him.

"I'm talking about tonight," Sirius rolled his eyes and turned to Remus and James. "What have you done tonight?"

"How can we have done something tonight when it's only -" Remus stopped to check his wrist watch "- 7:30 exactly? We'd better hurry if we don't want to miss breakfast."

"We'll help," Lily said, jumping down from the table avoiding the splotches of frosting as best she could.

"James, you're being awfully quiet," Sirius observed, crossing his arms and staring at James, who refused to meet his eyes as he scrubbed away at the carpet.

"I know it's your birthday but could you be a mate and help? Like Remus said, it's breakfast and I'm starving," James said after a heavy moment's pause. Sirius marched over, ripped the rag from his hands, and forced James to look at him. "Alright! Guess the cat's out of the bag anyway." James sighed as he got to his feet. "We're throwing a party for you. The whole house is coming."

The room seemed to freeze again as they waited for Sirius's reaction.

"Every year I tell you I don't want to do anything for my birthday." Sirius spoke in a voice of measured calm which somehow seemed worse.

"Right. And every year we don't really do anything for your birthday. But this year is going to be different because birthdays are important and…" James trailed off, not really knowing what else to say.

"And you're important, Sirius," Lily finished for him and James nodded in agreement. Sirius breathed one long heavy breath out as he looked at the floor.

"The entire house?" he asked sounding like he didn't quite believe it.

"Yup. Everyone said they were coming and they've all put their own touches on it," James smirked, growing excited again.

"Please tell me you didn't invite anyone else," Sirius implored seeming to have one particular person in mind.

"Well, did you have anyone else you wanted us to invite?" James shrugged awkwardly his eyes flashed to each of his friends.

"James, I need you to say -"

"We didn't," Eilidh announced. Sirius's stomach squirmed as he very slowly turned to look at her. They hadn't exactly talked since… Halloween nor had he told anyone what happened between them. "After Halloween we didn't know if you would want us to. We were gonna ask you today -"

"Indirectly," James quickly added.

"Right. And then go from there…. So?" Eilidh watched him warily.

Feeling the weight of all five of their steady gazes on him, he turned away and used the rag he stole from James to help clean. "I just don't think it's a good idea after what happened," he muttered, focusing more on his working hands than the pit in his stomach.

"Fine. So Evans, when's your birthday?" James asked, quickly changing the subject much to Sirius's relief.

"I don't have one," Lily replied cooly. "Especially if this is your 'Birthday Tradition'."

"Everyone has a birthday," James explained looking at Lily like she was absolutely ridiculous for not knowing.

"Not me," Lily smirked.

"It was the aliens wasn't it?" James mused.

"Exactly," she winked. Lily Evans just winked at James Potter. That was definitely an excuse to have a party.

Thousands of fairies lit the field, trapped by the bubble that muffled the noise so the professors wouldn't wake up and put an end to their fun. Gabe Pevensie and his band played mediocre covers of rock songs while they danced on the Quidditch goal posts. There were more than a few students from other houses, but that was expected when they invited the entirety of Gryffindor - word was bound to get out.

Sirius was having fun. Gabe's amplified voice singing over his slightly off beat bassist echoed so loudly throughout the stadium that Sirius did not have to think about anything he didn't want to. The butterbeer calmed his nerves and the salted snacks gave him something to do with his hands as he chatted with two girls -one blonde and around his year the other was a seventh year with bright red hair and a face full of freckles.

James and Peter were huddled around one of the many floating jars of fire with Lily, Mary, and Marlene. James was obviously telling a story; he was pulling a one man show beaming when Lily laughed heartily. Remus was not too far off, talking with a group of Ravenclaws which Sirius thought was rather ballsy.

"Sirius can I steal you for a mo?" Eilidh had come out of nowhere, interrupting the girls he was talking to - the blonde of which seemed particularly affronted. Eilidh simply grinned at her. "Lily and I want to give you our gift."

"When you say things like that how could I possibly say no?" Sirius smirked, ignoring his flipping stomach and suddenly sweaty palms.

"Don't stay away for too long," the blonde called while the other tried to pull her away. Sirius smiled over his shoulder and waved.

"I hope they didn't make you too miserable," Eilidh said conversationally but there was obvious humour in her corked eyebrows and smirking lips.

"They were nice," Sirius answered trying to avoid trodding on people's' feet as they walked by a group of dancers. "Do you know them?"

"Althea's my cousin and the blonde she tutors for extra credit," Eilidh answered, peering over another group trying to wave someone over. "She's Professor Haas's niece." She turned and led them over to where James and Lily were. Sirius reached out and gripped her forearm so they wouldn't separate in the crowd.

James and Lily had for whatever reason moved. They were now on the outskirts and no longer huddled around a warm mason jar of fire. Lily was shivering and curled into James's side with his arm pulled around her shoulder, her cheeks and nose pink from the cold. Mary and Marlene shared Peter's coat while Peter stood shivering with his hands in his pockets trying not to look cold.

"Did you not find Josie?" Lily asked as they approached.

"She's right behind me, where's Remus?" Eilidh asked looking around.

"Oh, right. Pete go and get him," James ordered with a jerk of his head, obviously not wanting to break contact with Lily.

Peter threw his head back and yelled, "REMUS!"

The girls all laughed. Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. James grumbled, looked back at the party searching for a second, and pointed his wand taking special care to aim. A moment later they heard a distinct yelp over the noisy crowd and music. James laughed then took a deep breath and forced himself to look completely neutral.

"Did you just aim a stinging curse at my bum, you absolute -" Remus hissed, rubbing his backside.

"Butt waffle!" James interrupted firmly, pointing his finger at Remus's chest as if to remind him not to use foul language in front of children.

"Not exactly my choice of insult but I always thought Lily was too nice for you," Remus insinuated, eyeing Lily who was now blushing into James's chest.

"Enough squabbling! I'm freezing," Marlene whined, her teeth chattering as she moved closer to Mary.

"You heard her Remus, go warm her up," James teased, lightly pushing Remus toward Marlene.

"I should probably remain available. Lily might get bored with you," Remus winked at Lily while James smiled but his eyes narrowed slightly. Remus smiled at him innocently.

"Where on earth is Josie?" Lily asked, using the excuse to step out from under James's arm. James stuffed his hands into his pockets and scowled at Remus. "Thank heavens! She's coming with heat," Lily sighed.

Josie was indeed approaching with a jar of deliciously warm fire being guided by her wand. "Right,' Josie said. "Let's make this quick. People are gonna come looking for this." Everyone took a needy step forward as Josie guided the jar into the middle of their sloppily formed circle.

"Okay, first we need to swear everyone to secrecy," Eilidh started, looking intensely more excited now that everyone was present.

"Come on, Nicnevin! It's like you don't trust us," James smirked.

"This present involves something that only the five of us know about," Marlene defended, her hands just shy of touching the jar.

"And letting you four know is a bit of a risk for us," Mary agreed, her eyes staring directly at the four boys in turn.

"You just have to swear not to tell anyone about any of this and to not use it so often that Filch catches wind of it," Lily said seriously but she was bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at each other and seemed to be thinking the same thing. It was a risk to be sworn to secrecy with so little information - they could be trying to prank them which would doubtlessly be embarrassing. The curiosity burned so fiercely inside them that they hardly cared so James spoke with his right hand over his heart and his left hand raised. "We do so solemnly swear."

It was the girls turn to share a look after which each of them nodded. Lily then reached into her pocket, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to Sirius.

 ***Hello sweeties :)**

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	48. Crossing the Threshold

Chapter 18 of Year 4: Crossing the Threshold

Marlene was the only one who could possibly know the entirety of their situation (as far as Eilidh could tell. She didn't know if Sirius had told anyone.) In fact, this whole thing was practically Marlene's idea. "Make him see you can still be friends," she had said. Eilidh took her advice to heart. It was difficult though when Sirius rarely looked at her voluntarily anymore and only spoke using so many words. So, she composed this plan.

At first, it seemed to work. Breakfast the next morning was spent giving vague answers to the boys' many questions.

"Exactly how many charms did you use?" Sirius asked the minute he sat down next to her (close enough to feel his body heat) in the Great Hall.

"Enough," she answered, not skipping a beat.

"You better not have used a Permanent Sticking Charm," he warned.

"Would that be fair?" she asked with a coy smirk as Sirius scowled at her over his cereal giving her a small amount of hope.

His mood changed though when Muggle Studies came and they were alone. Eilidh had walked in and taken her usual place in the left centre of the room. Sirius had turned to look at her over his shoulder with the hint of a smirk on his face, opened his mouth to stutter out half of a syllable, licked his lips, then turned back around, returning to his indifferent manner. As sad as it was, it was more than what she had been getting - usually, she just got a head nod or, on good days, a partial wave. Still, she repeatedly had to remind herself that after Hogsmeade things would be normal again.

Eilidh was quite surprised to see how long it took them to open the envelope. Three days after the party, the Gryffindor girls received a rude awakening in the middle of the night by a loud, wailing, klaxon-like sound. Startled, she pulled her covers up to her shoulders causing Marlene's cat to leap off her bed and cast a disdainful look over his shoulder. It took a brief second before she realized that a boy had tried to enter the girls' dormitories.

"Let the prefects take care of it," Eilidh muttered after hearing Josie jump out of bed. She settled back down on her pillow and was almost asleep again when there was a knock at the door. Eilidh groaned, sat up, and lit her wand.

Andrea Kim, the Head Girl, entered the room after Lily's shouted, "Come in!" looking less than pleased.

"Will one of you please go down there and get them to go to bed!" Andrea begged.

"Who?" Mary asked.

"The boys in your year - Potter and them." Andrea waved her hand dismissively and swooped out, not waiting for an answer.

Josie grumbled, unintelligibly, and pulled her covers over her head.

"I've had to deal with their pestering all Quidditch practice," Marlene said stubbornly, turning over so her face was in her pillow.

"Potter," Lily groaned, throwing herself back down on her bed.

"I'll go," Eilidh sighed rather than hear the rest of their arguments.

It was rather funny to see how frustrated the boys got.

"Seriously! This is it?" James shouted, brandishing the note at her before she had even stepped foot into the common room. Eilidh forced herself not to laugh.

"What?" she asked, trying (and failing) to sound innocent.

" _What_?" James repeated in a high mocking voice.

"The one-eyed witch at 10 o'clock! What does that even mean?" Peter asked, over James's angry muttering and stomping. In order to keep her stoic composure, Eilidh forced herself to look away from James's dramatic antics.

"The statue on the third floor, the one everyone used to say was haunted-"

"We know! What does it mean?" Sirius demanded, flailing his arms and collapsing into an armchair, without looking at her.

Eilidh's throat felt constricted when she answered, "that we - that is the girls and I would like to meet the four of you on Saturday at 10 o'clock by the statute. That was all in the note."

"For three days we've been trying to open that thing! We've hardly slept!" James said, sounding shrill. Eilidh had to bite her cheek to prevent her laughter. "Don't tell me that's all we're getting!"

"One," Eilidh said as she held up one finger, "it's for Sirius. Two," she continued, adding another, "it's not all he's getting. Obviously, we have something planned."

"We know that. James meant, is that the only information we're going to get?" Remus said, calmly.

"After three days of torture and no sleep," James added indignantly. " _And_ it's a Hogsmeade weekend! You're going to make us miss Hogsmeade?"

"Trust me. It'll be worth it," Eilidh told him, which earned her a glare. She turned back to Remus. "You need to wear Muggle clothes on Saturday and we'll need your brooms. That's all you're getting."

"Peter got my broom kidnapped," James said as if to say 'ha ha, your plan failed.'

"That won't be a problem," Eilidh said confidently before moving to return to her dormitory. "We'll need your brooms by tomorrow night."

Their brooms were delivered via a very large package carried by three of the school's owls at breakfast on Friday. It cost Eilidh 5 galleons and a million questions to borrow her brother Lucas's broom for James. No one wanted to ride with him.

"He's a classic backseat driver," Lily had said.

"He could drive!" Eilidh desperately tried to argue. 5 galleons were hard to come by.

"There are easier ways to die!"

So, she paid the 5 galleons, dodged Lucas's questions, and added a box of Fizzing Whizbees to ensure his silence. Then, hours before sunrise on Saturday morning, she and Mary snuck into Hogsmeade through the tunnel under the one-eyed witch.

That had been difficult for Eilidh. For the entire year she hadn't even looked at the statue; when queued up for Charms she looked determinedly pasted it or immersed herself with some form of distraction, other times she avoided that corridor completely. She had used that passage only four times before, in her third year. Her father sometimes had business in the city. He'd stay for the weekend and she'd sneak out on Saturday mornings to meet her father outside of Hogsmeade village. They'd spend the day in the city together and she'd be back before dinner. All four of her dorm mates knew about it - she had brought them with her once. It was no doubt because of this that Mary filled their silence with an endless stream of mindless chatter. Part of her was grateful for it. It was definitely easier to walk through the passageway and sneak in and out of Honeydukes without having memories flood her mind. Another part of her longed for silence, so she could think about those memories that had become so painful.

Mary's distraction, though well intended, only made things worse come Saturday afternoon. Being the most familiar with the passage under the one-eyed witch, Eilidh led the group with her wand held lit over her head so she could clearly see the path in front of her. And though some memories were able to slip through causing her eyes to sting slightly with the threat of tears, she focused determinedly on each footstep on the uneven ground, the sound of Remus's haggard breathing (hoping that the exercise and the waxing moon wasn't putting too much of a strain on him), her friends squealing every time they saw a worm, Marlene telling them to "grow some ovaries," and James and Lily talking behind the group.

"How did you know it was Filch who was coming for us? You seemed pretty sure of yourself," Lily commented.

"That's what Code Berk means, Evans," James answered.

"I got that, but how did Peter know that it was a 'Code Berk'?" Lily pressed.

"He's become rather clairvoyant since he's taken up Divinations," James explained. Lily snorted, but James continued. "Seriously! You should hear the dream he had about us."

"If you tell me he dreamt we were married with six kids, living in a cottage in the countryside where we grow old and die together, I will turn you into a worm and leave you here where no one will ever be able to find you," Lily threatened, sounding serious.

"Actually, we had a house in Westminster with four children," James corrected, completely unabashed. "Lily Jr., Lily the second, Lily the third, and James Sirius Remus Peter Potter. They all had your eyes."

"I prefer the country," Lily said simply.

"You'd have to with six children. Imagine the noise! And the expense," James said, not convincing anyone with his pessimistic words.

"Don't blame the children for the noise; we both know that'll be your doing. And as long as you get a job with long hours we won't have to worry about the expense… or my sanity." Lily smirked when James clutched his chest and gasped in faux offence still unable to hide his grin.

Saturday proved to be the perfect day for flying undetected. The sky was cloudy and grey with the threat of snow. Marlene had brought extra jumpers for everyone, assuming correctly that they would forget to bundle up. The boys' frustration seemed at ease now that they had rested. In fact, they seemed excited. Eilidh even caught Sirius gazing around curiously at the countryside.

"You know, when you asked for our brooms, I thought we'd be flying at some point," James told her conversationally, though there was an impatient edge to his tone.

Eilidh rolled her eyes but didn't even look back at him when she said, "We're almost there, stop complaining." It was the same thing she said half an hour ago when they came to the stile at the end of the lane, but this time they really were almost there. She could see the tree that marked a small fissure in the rocks where she and Mary had hidden their brooms hours before.

"It's right there!" Mary announced, rushing forward causing the rest of them to break out in a run.

"And what do you use this place for, Evans?" James asked once they had reached the tree.

"Tea parties," Lily smiled. She was rather enjoying seeing them struggle with not knowing something. "Just remember you've been sworn to secrecy," Lily warned.

"You know we're actually breaking the law by doing this," Josie said as if the idea had suddenly struck her. She had said the same thing when Eilidh had brought her out last year and was probably about to start lecturing about truancy.

"It's official, we're in," Remus grinned.

"How exactly did you get our brooms here?" Sirius asked curiously, having found the fissure in the rocks.

"You have your secrets; I have mine," Eilidh said evasively, moving forward to start handing out the brooms.

"Now can we know where we're going?" Peter asked impatiently.

"I thought it'd be obvious by now," Marlene smirked, taking her broom in hand.

"You already know where we're going," Mary said fairly, leaning against the tree next to Josie.

Eilidh called James forward, holding out Luke's broom, but when James made to grab it, she pulled slightly away. "This is my brother's broom. Break it and I'll hex you into oblivion."

"Please! I think James Potter knows how to properly handle a broom," James smirked, snatching the broom out of her hands.

"I think James Potter needs to stop referring to himself in the third person," Sirius muttered, finding his own broom.

"James Potter thinks Sirius Black needs to stop being a-"

"We," Eilidh said loudly, successfully stopping James's insult, "are the only ones who know where we're going at this point so you four need to follow us. It's important that we stay close together, keep our eyes peeled for You-Know-Who, and keep high enough so the Muggles at least mistake us for birds."

"There's no need to be so optimistic, Eilidh," Remus said, looking slightly concerned.

"We're not going to run into anything dangerous, least of all You-Know-Who," Lily said, calming the tension that had risen.

"We might," Eilidh sang (specifically addressing Josie), as she skipped past the rocks that hid the village from the Muggle world.

"This is truancy. Which is a serious offence! Our parents'll be fined and we'll be expelled," Josie said, giving everyone their last chance to turn back.

"We'll be fine Jo. We'll be back before Hagrid orders his first bucket of Meade," Lily smiled, slightly pushing Josie urging her to follow the rest of them.

Without looking back to see if she would follow, Eilidh took flight. In a tightly formed group, they flew higher, aiming for the clouds. With every foot towards the heavens, every care Eilidh had for the world fell and by the time she passed through the dark grey storm clouds she was soaking and weightless, her chest filled with nothing but blissful excitement.

"Woohooo!" James, shrieked on her left, pulling his broom into a skilful loop. It was a wonder why no one wanted to ride with him. Sirius, who was on her right and close enough to touch, seemed to feel as peacefully she did. The tension that marked his face since Halloween was finally gone. His eyes were focused on James as a mischievous smirk played on his lips. For a split second, he caught her eye, grinned, then ducked out of sight only to pop up again on James's other side, startling him enough to swerve.

They didn't seem to mind the cold at all, even as their lips turned blue, Eilidh's hands felt like they might have been frozen to her broom handle, and Marlene (who had taken Sirius's place on her right,) was visibly shaking. It took only a little over ten minutes for them to reach their destination where they dived down as fast as they could, the street lights ablur, into an alley in the very heart of the city.

Once landed, James and Sirius magically dried themselves and ran out of the alley, instantly enticed by the people performing on the street. Jugglers, people with skillfully trained dogs, musicians rendering their instruments almost past their capacity while the artists were only beginning to reach their full potential.

"Right," Marlene said, after drying everyone else in turn, "Where to first?"

"Anywhere and everywhere! The city is ours," Eilidh grinned, double checking that their brooms were fully covered by the rubbish.

"So..uh..any requests?" Mary asked, looking around.

"There." Sirius pointed to the giant record shaped sign belonging to a shop across the street and stepped into the road.

"They should see the Joke Shop," Lily declared, already heading in the opposite direction, not realising where Sirius had gone.

"I wanna see that!" James said, scurrying to catch up with Lily.

"But I'm hungry. Couldn't we eat first?" We're usually in the Three Broomsticks by now," Peter moaned, following James.

"Oh! There's this really good cafe not far from here," Mary said skipping off, pulling Peter by the hand.

"Oi!" Eilidh called after them, irritably. Sirius hadn't realised that none of them had followed. Unfortunately, no one turned at her call.

"How about we all meet Mary and Peter in the cafe?" Marlene suggested. "You keep Black out of trouble and Josie and I'll take Remus… um- There's a used bookstore on the next street, how's that sound?"

"Erm…" Remus turned to Eilidh, looking for a reaction but Eilidh was too busy glaring at the grinning Marlene to notice.

"Great. We'll see you at the cafe, then?" Josie asked.

"Fine. We'll pick up Lily on the way," Eilidh grumbled before sprinting to catch up with Sirius.

Sirius was already elbowed deep in one of the crates by the time she entered the shop, his eyes flickering over every album cover, pausing momentarily at an interesting looking one, but only one caught his interest enough for him to pull it out to look at the back. Iggy Pop, shirtless, clutching his microphone stand, staring out at the crowd, his skin illuminating red while the rest of the cover was black. It was an iconic album that she knew well. It was Lily's favourite and she had played it until her needle broke.

"Lily has that one. She'll let you borrow it if you ask," Eilidh told him. Sirius jumped at her voice.

"Where are the others?" he asked, dropping the record back in its place.

"They spread out," she shrugged. "You should try The Runaways if you don't mind girl groups or American bands." Eilidh moved to where the owners had marked the R's and started digging. Sirius abandoned his crate and chose the one next to hers.

It amused her to see how much care he took in choosing an album. If one caught his interest, he'd quickly scan the front, read the back in detail, then back to the front again, his eyes moving from top to bottom with the amount of concentration Josie reserved for her books or James for the Quidditch field. It was even worse when he started a conversation with the store's owner; every answer he received seemed to only spark another question. It was an hour before Sirius finally found his selection. Eilidh waited patiently by the door, swinging her plastic bag at her side, watching Sirius with a smile on his face as he finished his conversation with the owner.

"Did you wanna go somewhere?" Sirius asked, once he finally broke away.

"Yeah, but we've got to catch up with other's first," Eilidh said, leading him out the door.

"Well, I think I found my new favourite shop," Sirius said. She was partially surprised that he was carrying on a conversation with her.

"You don't have a good record store at home?" Eilidh asked, her chest bubbling with excitement.

"I don't get out much at home." Sirius shrugged then after a brief moment said, "Thanks for bringing me here," looking at her sideways, smiling, his body leaning toward her almost to playfully nudge her.

"Of course," she grinned. "It's your birthday; I had to do something."

"So, we're still celebrating my birthday?" Sirius asked, walking backwards to look her square in the eye. Eilidh's stomach suddenly started squirming.

"Er- yeah, sure," she answered, apprehensive about what the consequences might be.

"Then I'd like to make a request," Sirius said, full of confidence and enthusiasm in a manner she had not seen from him in weeks.

"Ask and you shall receive," she vowed, her nerves taking a backseat to the thrill she got from his suddenly normal behaviour.

"Total honesty," Sirius said his voice still confident but he stared directly ahead of him and his pace grew suddenly swift and hard to keep up with. "To be fair I'll play along too. So, we can ask each other anything and our answers have to be one-hundred percent, totally, and completely honest no matter what the other person might feel or think."

"Risky, I like it." She grinned despite the pit in her stomach. What was he going to ask?

"You go first," Sirius said.

"But it's your birthday," Eilidh insisted.

"Exactly, you go first."

Eilidh sighed heavily and slowed her pace to a casual stroll forcing him to match her steps. She didn't know what to ask him so she just said, "What's your favourite number?"

"Seriously?" he asked, Eilidh shrugged. "Alright. Um… 22."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess it just seems like a good age," Sirius said. "And that was two questions, so I get two."

"Fair enough," Eilidh nodded.

Sirius thought for a moment, gazing at the crowd as if in search of inspiration. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Erm… I don't - I don't know," Eilidh's stomach twisted. This was something she really didn't want to explain. "You just seemed like you could do with a bit of fun… Halloween seemed pretty stressful for you." That could have been referring to anything; his brother, that fight, the chase, their "moment."

"Nah, I should have expected that. It was pretty standard actually… Well except for …. Okay, question two," Sirius took a deep breath then smiled forcefully. "Why'd you kiss me?"

Eilidh's stomach dropped. Her heartbeat sped up dangerously. Her head spun making her thoughts incomprehensible. She could feel her eyes growing large. She swallowed before forcing herself to speak. "I- To get away from the Slytherins. People look away too quickly when they see people snogging; it was the simplest conclusion."

"And that's it?" Sirius asked, his voice suddenly hard. "Total honesty?"

Eilidh's heart rose to her throat. In the heat of the moment, it did seem like the simplest conclusion. But if she were honest with herself, there had to have been a small sub-conscious ulterior motive that had made her feel guiltier for the past few weeks.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Huh?"

"You got all quiet and you look angry," Sirius explained, watching her with such scrutiny it made her blush. Sirius stepped in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn't run into him. "Answer the question," he ordered.

"I did," she said shrilly.

"Not completely," Sirius argued.

Eilidh groaned irritably and stuffed her hands in her pockets. "What question did I not answer?" She looked determinedly in his face, allowing her irritation with him for the past weeks to take over. He didn't even flinch at her scowl and it only proved to make things worse.

"Do you fancy me?" he asked, his voice at least an octave higher than usual.

"You never asked that," Eilidh answered, refusing to blush and forcing herself to keep eye contact.

"It was implied," Sirius said, sounding as irritated as she did.

"I thought we were doing total honesty, not implications," she said, stepping around him, dodging his outstretched hand, and walked as quickly as she could, but despite her efforts, Sirius kept up with her easily.

"Oh my God! You fancy me!" he practically screamed. Eilidh, despite herself, laughed at his excitement. She bit her lip so she wouldn't be caught smiling. "You have to admit it; that's the point of the game."

"I fancy you," Eilidh said through gritted teeth, unable to deny that shit-eating grin on his face even if she tried.

"Thank you. Next question-"

"No," she said sternly, stepping in front of him and stopping him with her hand on his chest. He looked shocked but didn't push her away which she took as a good sign. "You only had two questions and you've asked three - it's my turn."

"Ask away," he said smugly.

"Why are you such a prat?"

"Why do you fancy me if you think I'm a prat?"

"You can't answer my questions with another question."

"I can when they're not real questions."

She glared at him with her face burning. Though she put up an angry front, she knew it was only because she was embarrassed by her confession.

Sirius took a step closer to her and said softly, "perhaps you'd like to ask if I fancy you too?"

"I can choose my own questions," Eilidh snapped. She crossed her arms and threw herself against the nearest wall, glaring at the passing cars. She really did want to know if he fancied her, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction, especially when he was already being so smug. Sirius leaned against the wall next to her with his hands in his pockets, looking patient and serene. "Why'd you stop talking to me after we kissed?" she asked finally.

"I didn't stop talking to you," he said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Fine, why'd you get weird then," she corrected.

Sirius shrugged. "Because it was weird. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how… if you - what you wanted so I just… I don't know, it seems stupid now."

"It wasn't stupid, it was just annoying," Eilidh told him.

"Yeah, well. I'm not a mind reader. You could have done something," Sirius argued.

"I did when I kissed you," she said slowly.

"Right. Can I ask my question now?" Sirius asked.

"No, it's still my turn."

"Fine."

Eilidh breathed deeply and took a long moment to prepare herself. "Do you wish I hadn't kissed you?"

"Erm…." It was awhile before Sirius answered. Eilidh stayed determinedly silent, wrestling with the decision to take back her question. She could practically see the wheels turning in Sirius's head as he gazed blankly at a potted plant across from them. "I wish it had been under different circumstances, and my ego wishes I had been the one to do the kissing but that's it," he admitted, sounding sure.

Eilidh nodded, accepting the relief that washed over her. It wasn't the best answer but it was better than she was expecting.

"Okay… now… what's your favourite colour?" she asked, simply because she couldn't think of another question. Sirius laughed heartily then shook his head.

"Alright, get ready for something almost as cliché as your question," Sirius said, stepping into the middle of the pavement, striking a pose like he was about to give a dramatic speech.

"If you say black, I'll take everything back," Eilidh warned. Sirius grinned.

"It's purple," he said simply.

"Total honesty?" she asked, slightly taken aback. They began to stroll again, suddenly realizing how much time had passed from when they had last seen the rest of the group. Sirius nodded, now trying to hide his smile. "You were making fun of my cliché question," she accused.

"It was embarrassingly cliché. I'm a bit disappointed in you," he admitted, holding back a laugh with obvious effort.

"Fine, but why purple?"

"Why do you ask why so much?" he challenged. Eilidh pursed her lips, indicating that it was still her turn. "Because it's calm and exciting, depending on the shade," he answered with a sigh.

"So, you like all spectrums of purple?" Eilidh asked. They had reached the shop Lily had taken James, in fact, they could see them through the display window. Reluctantly, Eilidh reached for the door, wondering if things were really repaired between them or if it would all revert once they were inside.

"You know," Sirius pulled her arm back just before she had grabbed the door handle and forced her to face him, "you've asked like fifty questions. I'd say it's my turn."

"Yeah, I guess," Eilidh said. Sirius's stubborn determination made her nervous. He glanced into the shop window then pulled her out of its frame.

"Do you wanna go to Hogsmeade?" he asked so quickly his words almost strung together. "I mean with me. Like on -" he groaned rather than finish question. Eilidh couldn't believe her ears. Sirius couldn't possibly be asking her on a date while standing between a joke shop and a sporting goods store on this random busy street in a random Scottish city. Sirius took one deep, slow, steady breath then started again. "Do you, Eilidh, want to go on a date with me next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Does total honesty apply to these questions as well?" Eilidh asked. She never thought of Sirius as insincere but the past few weeks had put so much of a strain on her this outcome seemed too good to be true.

"Mate, you already had the opportunity to ask if I fancied you," he answered, his lips twitching almost to a full smile but quickly became focused again, "but yes."

"Okay," Eilidh said softly, afraid of speaking above a whisper in case he could tell that she was holding in a scream. She crossed her arms so he wouldn't see her hands trembling with excitement.

"Okay as in yes? Because it'd be really weird if you fancied me but refused to go on a date with me," Sirius said, speaking in a rush.

"Oh, yeah, sorry yes," Eilidh stopped herself, knowing she was about to start rambling and took a deep breath. "Yes, I'll go with you to Hogsmeade… on a date."

"Cool," he nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Eilidh could have sworn he was grinning when he ducked his head which caused Eilidh to smile. Sirius looked back up, caught her eye, and they burst into giggles at the sheer awkwardness of it all. "We should-" Sirius pointed at the Joke Shop window.

"Right, before they start looking for us," Eilidh nodded, suddenly feeling nervous. A thought had occurred to her. While their current friendship was going well, the tension between James and Lily was very real. In the beginning, her friendship with James had even caused a small strife between her and Lily. She wondered how she would react to this news. "Hey," Eilidh touched Sirius's arm before he could venture further into the store, "you'll let me tell Lily, right?"

"As long as you'll let me tell, James," Sirius smirked, though it seemed less confident than usual. Eilidh nodded with an understanding smile, moments before James rushed up to her.

"Hey, watch out!" James reached out and grabbed her shoulder, sending a shockwave through her arm that seemed to be caused by a loud buzzing from his hand. Eilidh yelped, in both surprise and pain, and flinched away while James chuckled. He slung an arm over Sirius and pressed his hand into his chest, issuing another loud buzz. "Tell me what, Pickles?"

"Merlin's-" Sirius pushed his arm off, "how much of an idiot you are!"

"Oh, really?" James grinned, reaching his hands out threateningly.

"Yeah, we were just discussing it on the way over here." Sirius took a step back. "Where's Evans? You didn't kill her with that thing, did you?"

"Oh, no, the aliens got to her before I could," James smirked, stalking forward, pushing Sirius back into a corner, toward what appeared to be a mannequin with dark red hair wearing a green alien mask. That is before it jumped out and grabbed Sirius revealing itself to be a very alive Lily. Sirius jumped, turned away from both of them, then looked behind him to check for any more surprises. "Alight, in all seriousness, pun partially intended," Sirius rolled his eyes as James dug in his pocket, "happy birthday, mate." James held out a can labelled 'Jolly Good Jelly Beans.' Sirius eyed it suspiciously.

"It's not going to turn me into a toad, or turn my hair blue, or make me talk in pig Latin for a week?" he questioned.

"Mate, we're in a Muggle store," James whispered, stretching his arm out further. It all seemed rather innocent until Eilidh saw Lily watching them with a glint in her eye and an excited smile. Sirius took the can reluctantly and seemed rather relieved when nothing happened. "Those were good ideas though, keep them in mind for-" Eilidh cleared her throat, hoping he wouldn't say anything about Snape. James did seem to stutter before finishing with, "the next time we prank Remus and Peter."

"Remus would look good as a toad," Sirius grinned.

"Right? You should open that up, I'm starving," James said, clutching his stomach.

"You'd make me share my birthday present?" Sirius asked, obviously playing for time.

"Good friends share, Sirius," Lily said, smirking. Sirius sighed and began twisting the lid of the can. Eilidh took a step back, her imagination running wild. Being in a Muggle store wouldn't stop James from charming the can when he thought no one was looking. Sirius pulled the lid off and a cloth covered spring jumped out.

"Wow, looked what popped out of this totally inconspicuous can," Sirius said blandly while trying to stuff the spring back in.

"Eh, we should have waited," James told Lily, looking a bit disappointed.

"It's alright, he could always give it to Regulus," Lily grinned at Sirius.

" _That_ would be funny," Sirius chuckled, finally getting the lid back on.

All four of them stared at each other for a moment. The moment got rather awkward so Eilidh spoke quickly, "I told Marlene that'd we'd meet her and Mary at the cafe."

"Ah, yes. Peter and Mary… skipping off to the cafe… holding hands," James said, staring at Eilidh and Lily like they were supposed to understand something.

"Er, yeah they did. It's just up the street," Eilidh said slowly. James sighed and grumbled but strode out the door. Lily and Eilidh looked to Sirius for an explanation but he shrugged before following James out.

"You and Potter didn't kill each other," Eilidh remarked, walking a few paces behind the boys.

"He's actually nice when he's distracted and plotting against his friends," Lily smiled. Eilidh smirked at her, cocking an eyebrow. Lily nudged her with her shoulder. "Stop it. It's not like that. He's so…."

"Fun?" Eilidh offered, sounding casual so Lily couldn't possibly know the weight behind her words. Lily rolled her eyes and stared at the back of his head.

"Confusing," she sighed. Confusing was much better than 'arrogant weasel.'

* * *

 *****Thank you Snuffles's Bitch and welcome :D I hope you continue to like it.**

* * *

 *****Hello lovies,**

 **Thank you to everyone that checked out that poll for me, it was very helpful. Even if you didn't thanks for continuing to read my story :)**

 **I'd love to know what you guys thought of this chapter so tell me if you loved it or hated it or whatever strikes your fancy**

 **All rights reserved to JKR**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	49. The Lunacy in Their Schemes

**Chapter 19 of year 4: The Lunacy of Their Schemes.**

With the same dark hair and sharp nose, it was undeniable that Sirius and Regulus were brothers. But where Regulus was solid, Sirius was brittle. Even though he was only in his second year, Regulus had a wide jaw and a friendly smile that enticed people to trust him, while Sirius wore a thin mouth and narrow eyes warning newcomers that he was dangerous.

Regulus followed the rules of high society and common courtesy to the letter. He remembered to swallow his food before speaking, to stand when a lady entered and left the room. He knew, by second nature, that when a close friend or family member came into town that you were supposed to make it a point to greet them. What he didn't know was why Sirius didn't understand this.

Sirius didn't know why Regulus cared so much about a distant relative he had only met once. He didn't understand why Regulus cared so much about people listening in to their heated argument by the doors of the Great Hall. He couldn't lower his voice even if he wanted to; he was too mad. Regulus had acted like what he had done on Halloween was nothing.

"You're s _till_ mad at me for that," Regulus had said indifferently. Sirius hated that when it came to important things like loyalty, Regulus didn't care, but Merlin forbid he ever miss lunch. "Honestly, what did you expect to happen? What would you have done if you had found some Slytherin creeping around your common room?"

"I'm not some Gryffindor, I'm your brother!" Sirius yelled, hoping that people would stare. "I would have had your back! At the very least I wouldn't have sicked the whole house on you!" His anger slowly started to dissipate as he heard his voice overpower those eating breakfast. He had gained an audience and Regulus was squirming under their watchful eyes.

"Keep your voice down," Regulus implored, sweeping his eyes once over the turned faces in the Hall.

"Why? You don't want anyone else knowing what a cowardly little prat you are?" And there it was, the flared nostrils, the twitching mouth, the white-knuckled fists. Sirius got a sick satisfaction in seeing his brother flushed with anger. Regulus glared at him, taking deliberately slow breaths as he tried to keep control. Sirius wondered what would happen if he pushed him just a little bit farther; maybe he'd wind up hitting him.

"Slughorn's dinner party is tomorrow. You can explain to Amoriel why you weren't there yesterday. In the meantime, write to Mum about it. I'm done making excuses for you," Regulus said irritatingly calmly. With one last hard look, he stepped past Sirius and made his way back to Slytherin's table.

"Fine!" Sirius shouted in a vain attempt to keep the argument going.

"Good!" Regulus called back, glancing over his shoulder but, to Sirius's disappointment, kept walking.

"Great!" Sirius said.

When Regulus didn't reply, he continued to glare at his receding form until he sat next to the kid he had introduced him to about two months before this, Barty Crouch Jr. From what Sirius had observed the name fit him perfectly: He truly was his father's junior in everything from appearance to his pompous attitude. He scathingly thought that he and his brother fit perfectly together.

"If I ever become that big of an arsehole, stupefy me," Sirius said to no one in particular as he sat back down next to Remus.

"Rematch, mate," James said, waving his wand to conjure two bottles of pumpkin juice from the kitchen on the table between them. Sirius grimaced. Before Regulus had interrupted them, he had barely been able to choke down half the bottle and his insides were already feeling slushy.

"What did Regulus want?" Remus asked conversationally but his expression was one of concern.

"Yeah, and why'd you call him a prat?" Peter asked, dropping the fork he was bringing to his mouth.

"A cowardly little prat, Pete. Don't diminish my skills at insulting people," Sirius corrected. He refilled his plate with various breakfast items, more out of the need to do something with his hands than out of hunger. James took out his wand again and this time pointed it at Sirius. "What are you doing?"

"You said if you ever started acting like a prat-"

"Not now, you idiot!" Sirius threw a now cold biscuit at him and it hit him in the face. Peter laughed but tried to hide it by taking a bite of food.

"That's just rude," James said, brushing the crumbs off his robes. Remus was gazing at Sirius expectantly, either waiting for an apology or was still expecting an answer.

"Oh, he just wanted to remind me that Slughorn's thing is tomorrow. And he wanted to know why I wasn't in Hogsmeade," Sirius said. He grabbed one of the bottles James had conjured and pressed its mouth to his lips to avoid any follow-up questions. He watched as James stood and called, "Pevensie!" before starting to gulp the juice down wildly, trying to catch up.

Sirius closed his eyes and relaxed his throat, allowing the juice to flow smoothly down. His stomach already felt like it would burst but he knew the faster he finished, the faster he could get out of the Hall and use being in class as an excuse to avoid Remus's questions. He coaxed himself to not taste the too sweet liquid, to not pay attention to the quickly forming crowd cheering either his or James's name nor to the pain now not only in his expanding stomach but in his bladder as well.

Sirius thought he was nearing the end of his bottle. Sure enough, after the flashing light of a camera, the last few drops hit his lips. Sirius stood, holding out his tongue and the bottle upside down to prove he had finished, and ran out of the Hall in search of the nearest toilet.

One hoarse but clear voice could be heard over the laughing and cheering crowd. "Wait!" the voice called out. Part of him knew he should be touched, but Remus's incessant concern only irritated him, so he didn't wait - he didn't even slow his pace. Only James was able to catch up with him. He wasn't bothered by this, James understood that sometimes family wasn't _family,_ a concept that Remus had yet to grasp.

"Two galleons!" James panted, pushing his way into one of the stalls. "Pevensie only gave me two galleons because he said he gave me the other half the first time. Thing is, the first time he only gave me two galleons because you only finished half the bottle. So I drank two gallons of pumpkin juice for four galleons!"

"We'll get him back," Sirius said, listening to the haggard breathing coming from the doorway. He knew it was Remus and he rather reluctantly left the stall to wash his hands.

"Do - you - know… how close it is to the full moon?" gasped Remus standing hunched over with his hands on his knees.

"About a week," Sirius shrugged.

"Four days. Which means my lungs are starting to shrink. I can't go sprinting after you throughout the whole bloody castle," Remus said angrily, clutching a stitch in his side.

"I am fully capable of taking a piss by myself. You don't see Peter-" Sirius stopped mid-sentence hearing Peter's flat feet slapping against the stone floor of the corridor.

Seconds later he collided with the door frame opposite Remus, cherry faced and wheezing. He held up a small pouch of jingling money from Remus. "From Cresswell," he breathed. Remus nodded and stored the pouch in his pocket but not before James could see it.

"Where'd you get that?" he demanded.

"Dirk bet that you would choke on your pumpkin juice and squirt it out your nose. Then Frank and Gabe got in on it and well…." Remus shrugged, standing up straighter now and seemed to be breathing without difficulty.

"Wankers," James muttered, crossing over to the sink.

"To be fair, you did choke a lot. I was actually getting worried. That bet would have emptied my wallet," Remus said as he smirked at James's scowl. "Anyway, would you guys care if we missed half of our first class?"

"Would we ever?" Sirius asked, turning then leaned against the sink so he could look at Remus. He normally didn't condone skiving off lessons.

"It's History of Magic, mate. I wouldn't mind missing the entirety of it," James said, shaking his hands dry.

"Good. Let's go, there are only a few minutes before the bell." Remus turned on his heels and led them out of the castle, across the grounds, all the way to a small wooden house on the edge of the forest, whilst explaining that Hagrid sometimes let him hide out at his place when he didn't feel well enough to go to class.

"It's quiet enough for me to study and a lot more comfortable than the Hospital. Plus he tells some great stories. Terrible cook though," Remus said, knocking on Hagrid's door then added over the sound of a pup barking, "Don't eat the rock cakes."

"Quiet Fang! Come 'er," Hagrid grunted before opening the door. He was holding a small, squiggling, brown puppy in one of his large, dustbin sized hands. "Oh, hello Remus. Wasn' expectin' yer. Feelin' alrigh'?"

"Remus just ran a marathon and you know. His lungs," Sirius added in a whisper before Remus could answer for himself.

"They know," Remus explained, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

"Do they?" Hagrid eyed them suspiciously, almost threateningly- the effect was terrifying coming from a man so large.

"They're cool with it," Remus said. Hagrid, thankfully relaxed. "This is James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. We were wondering if you could tell us about some of the creatures we will - I mean _could_ find in the forbidden forest."

"Er - couldn' we talk about tha' at lunch, yer lot should be in class. Besides, Professor Kettleburn's supposed ter teach yer tha'," Hagrid answered.

"Yes, but no one knows the forest like you do, Hagrid," said Remus with an expression of angelic innocence. That proved it, he was up to something and it was bound to be no good.

"That and he's suspicious of us," James scoffed as if the idea was ludicrous.

"Not that it would matter because it's for an essay Kettleburn assigned, he'd just tell us to do our research," Remus said.

"Yeah, on the creatures in the forest," Peter nodded, realising by Hagrid's raised eyebrows that he had been thrown off by James's comment.

"On magical creatures native to Scotland. Pay attention Peter," James corrected, quickly.

"We thought maybe the Centaurs would be easiest," Remus said, making an obvious mistake.

"No they're from - oh, alrigh'. Come in," Hagrid grumbled, moving aside to let them in. "Mind that step," he warned as they filed past him. "Make yerselves at home."

Hagrid's house had only one room complete with pheasants hanging from the ceiling, a massive bed in the corner covered by a patchwork quilt, a large wooden table in the middle of the house, and a warm crackling fire to which the boys went automatically to warm their aching fingers.

"What's that Hagrid?" Remus asked, looking at something nest-like on the table. Hagrid was busy putting Fang in a pillowy box by the door, imploring him to stay and hadn't noticed that Remus had asked a question. Sirius crept over to have a look. There, in the center of the table, sitting in a nest of one of Hagrid's shirts, was six fragile looking, sapphire blue, tiny eggs (smaller than a snitch) warmed by a pool of sunlight streaming in through a window.

"Nevermind those," Hagrid said, quickly scooping up his shirt and placing it carefully on the mantle over the fireplace. "Yer lot sit down an' I'll put the kettle on." Hagrid moved swiftly about the room, having to repeatedly put Fang back to bed in between trying to fill his large copper kettle with water, set saucer sized tea cups in front of them on the table, and put the kettle on the fire all while explaining where Centaurs really came from. "Centaurs are Greek, not Scottish. On'ly reason why we have 'em is 'cause the Ministry started makin' laws against 'em an' takin' their land so Dumbledore offered 'em the forest. Tha' was when he firs' became Headmaster. Ministry didn' like it but they learned ter stay out o' things where Dumbledore's concerned."

"Great man, Dumbledore," Remus remarked, smiling knowingly at Hagrid.

"Yeah, great man," Hagrid grinned back. "Anyway, if 's somethin' easy yeh're lookin' fer, try unicorns. There's loads o' studies on 'em wha' with their healin' properties."

"Unicorns. Got it. Anything else?" Remus asked, as if out of mild curiosity.

"Oh, lemme see…" Hagrid moved to lift the screaming kettle from the fire and Fang got up to follow before Sirius scooped him up and held him firmly in his lap, scratching behind his ears until he relaxed. "There's thestrals, acromantulas," Hagrid listed, pouring tea into their cups, "load o' bowtruckles, direwolves, small flock o' Augureys as well. It used to be bigger but we had a bit o' a drought a few ye-"

"Hang on! There are direwolves in the forbidden forest?" Remus said, bolting upright in his chair.

"O' course. We've had 'em since I was in school 'cause - well never yer mind. But they're bein' moved at the end o' the year, least fer a while. Dumbledore reckons they're huntin' the Chimaera an' they're nearly extinct so we've gotta protect 'em," Hagrid added sadly, staring out of the window at the forest.

"What's a direwolf?" Peter asked.

"It's the product of werewolves mating in their wolf forms. How many are there?" Remus questioned.

"Three. I can ask Dumbledore 'bout takin' yer out ter meet 'em. Shoulda thought 'bout it before," Hagrid said.

"Thanks. But why… " Remus stared intently at his teacup as if it would suddenly pipe up and answer his half-spoken question, then sighed and settle back into his seat.

"The direwolves live in apart o' the forest I don' usually go in often. I didn' think 'bout tellin' yer," Hagrid said gruffly yet oddly soft.

"It's alright, Hagrid," Remus said, quickly. "We heard that Kettleburn released the nifflers he showed us last year in the forest. Are they still there?"

"Oh yeah, always are. He rounds 'em up once a year when he wan's ter show his class. Should be doin' it nex' term." Hagrid answered then took a loud gulp of his tea.

A reflective silence fell over the five of them that seemed to center around Remus who, refusing to meet anyone's eye, was staring at his hands folded on the table. Sirius looked at James and Peter, wondering if they knew what was wrong with their friend, but, judging by their equally concerned and confused expressions, they were as ignorant as he was. Hagrid, on the other hand, looked rather guiltily at Remus.

"So Hagrid," James said suddenly, clearing his throat and sitting up straighter in his chair. "What is it with the direwolves? Why won't you go into their part of the forest?"

"Nothin'. They jus' prefer to be alone 's all. They're intelligent enough ter take care o their own - galloping gorgons!" Hagrid got up so suddenly he knocked into the table, spilling their tea. He glanced out of the window by the door then spun around. "You four've gotta go! Professor Sprouts comin', you'll get in trouble if she sees yer."

The boys didn't need telling twice. They jumped to their feet and restuffed themselves into their hats, scarves, and jumpers as quickly as possible.

"Go out the back and wait 'till we're past the Whompin' Willow before goin' back ter the castle. An' make sure yer get ter class!" Hagrid growled as Peter, Sirius, James, and Remus past him.

"Thanks, Hagrid," James grinned over his shoulder.

Hagrid nodded then said quickly, "Remus, I'm sorry I didn' tell yer 'bout -"

"No, Hagrid, it wasn't that. I just thought of something I need to speak with Dumbledore about, that's all." Remus smiled kindly at him.

"Don't forget ter ask abou' me takin' yer ter see 'em," Hagrid smiled.

"Could we come too?" Sirius asked, not expecting a yes but he had to try.

"If Dumbledore says 'sokay," Hagrid answered. At a knock on the door, Fang sprang into action barking furiously and scratching at the wood. "Get ter class!" Hagrid hissed then snapped the door shut.

"What do you want to ask Dumbledore?" Sirius asked ducking behind one of Hagrid's impossibly large pumpkins; he only had to crouch a little to not be seen.

"Nothing," Remus muttered, doing the same.

"What'd you mean nothing?" Peter asked.

Remus groaned irritably before answering, "I just want to clarify something."

"Like what?" James pressed.

"Like why I have to be locked in the shack every month when we have direwolves in the forest," Remus hissed bitterly at the rock he was nudging out of the dirt with his toe.

"Probably a good thing. They sound dangerous," Peter reflected.

" _I'm_ dangerous Peter," Remus reminded him as he peered over the tops of the pumpkins to see where Professor Sprout and Hagrid were.

"Wonder where they're going to move them to," James said, pointedly ignoring Remus's self-deprecating remark.

"Ireland," Remus said as if this were obvious.

"Oh, with Eilidh," James said.

Sirius took a deep breath, deciding that there was no time like the present.

"Speaking of," he said quickly, "I asked her to Hogsmeade."

"I was going to ask her anyways. I heard that Zonkos -"

"No, James," Remus said. "He means like…."

"Oh!" James breathed. "That was fast."

"But you don't like her," Peter said, looking utterly confused.

"'Course he does! He's liked her since he wrote that essay for her last year," James smirked in a way that made Sirius's blood boil.

"If I recall correctly, I think I hated her last year," Sirius argued, turning his face away from James to look at nothing in particular.

"Only because you were denying the fact that you were in love with her," James argued, still smirking.

"No one said anything about love," Sirius growled, darting a foot out to kick James's but he was too quick for him. For whatever reason, the word had caused Sirius heart to sputter and not in a pleasant way. James formed his fingers into a heart shape and thumped them over his chest to the beat of his mouthed L-O-V-E. "Indifference to hatred to plausible like is not what I'd consider love. Just ask Evans."

"Evans and I have something deeper than your petty tempers. You hated her because of a misunderstanding," James said airily. "Anyway, you'll have to find somewhere else to take her. Hogsmeade's our thing."

"Our thing?" Sirius laughed. "I didn't know we had a thing."

"Hogsmeade is our thing. We always go together," James said, matter of factly.

"Time," Remus said, pushing himself up to lead them back to the castle.

"Who else would you go with? Snape?" Sirius cleaned the dirt off his robes wondering if James's problem with Hogsmeade was real or a joke; it was getting harder to tell when their arguments were fake.

"I reckon no one will be able to find us in this pumpkin patch," James said, leaning more comfortably against his pumpkin seeming intent on staying where he was.

"We have O. next year," Remus warned over his shoulder.

"'Next year' being the operative phrase," Sirius said; however the argument was feeble. Remus could simply say that Sirius had promised to focus on his grades this year or that O. tested them on the knowledge they acquired in all years previous. Remus didn't say any of this.

"You can use class time to argue with James," he said instead. Remus never argued unless he felt it was necessary and this time it wasn't.

James grumbled as he got to his feet and muttered as he passed Sirius, "Hogsmeade with Snape. Barmy!"

Sirius chuckled then called out, "Oi Remus!" Remus stopped at the start of the inclining hill and he, James, and Peter jogged to catch up. "What was the point of all that anyway? Going to Hagrid's?"

"We still haven't figured out how to prank the Slug Club," Remus smirked.

"You're going to make us go into the forest aren't you?" Peter asked, stopping abruptly and colliding with James. Remus hummed and smiled and continued his lazy stroll up the hillside.

Remus never did answer them. Instead, he let Peter spend the day staring out of windows as if trying to summon his courage. James and Sirius argued about the next Hogsmeade weekend and, in subtext, the possibility of venturing into the forbidden forest. James didn't believe that Remus would ever plan an illegal trip into a forest infamously known for being dangerous. Sirius felt he had a better grasp of Remus's character. Still, no one was surprised when Remus woke them in the middle of the night.

There was a stream of questions from both James and Peter trying to piece together what Remus was planning but his answers were too vague. But Sirius knew or felt he knew, what he was planning by three things.1.) Remus had said this was for the Slug Club's dinner party, 2.) Remus knew that rich people liked to show off their wealth with expensive jewellery, 3.) Remus had asked Hagrid specifically about nifflers.

So his question wasn't what he was doing, but how he was planning on doing it. The plan was brilliant in theory, but catching nifflers was supposed to be nearly impossible. Sirius knew only how to repel and kill nifflers, but Mr Lupin was notoriously more humane than his parents and had taught Remus to be as well. So Sirius decided to watch and not ask questions. Tonight was going to be a learning experience.

Remus led them down a winding path and stopped only when they were far enough into the forest they could no longer see Hagrid's hut, but not so far the moon was invisible through the trees.

Remus set his sack down against a tree and started kicking leaves and rocks out of his way. He bent to feel the ground, piled the surrounding twigs on top of each other then ignited them with a tap of his wand.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Peter asked, hiding his fear with obvious effort. Sirius didn't see what the big deal was. The forest seemed just like any other forest. He was actually disappointed that it didn't live up to its hype.

Remus sighed and found a long stick to poke his fire with. "In the morning, I'm going to have to have spent three days laying in my hospital bed. Let me have this."

A look of acute determination took over James's face whenever Remus referenced his condition, this time was no different.

"So what's next?" James said, pushing up the sleeves of his Holyhead Harpies jumper they had been sworn to never speak of. The Holyhead Harpies were his least favourite team but his aunt gave it to him for a birthday present and he was too sentimental to throw it out. Remus reached over to grab his sack and tossed it to James.

"Those need to be hung around the fire, so the light catches it," he said, piling more twigs on his slowly growing fire.

They hung the half dozen golden trophies around the fire, laughing at the thought of _Remus_ stealing them from the trophy room and the thought of Filch's face when he found out they were missing.

"I made sure to use the ones that weren't noticeable," Remus said in response to Peter's impression of Filch threatening the use of thumbscrews if he didn't return the stolen goods. "We need to be quiet or they won't come so sit down and enjoy the fire."

"We should have brought something to roast," James said, sitting with his legs crossed and holding Remus's tall stick above the flame.

"Right, so we could attract all the dark and creepy man-eating things," said Sirius laying out against the trunk of a tree with his legs stretched out so the fire would warm his toes.

"No thanks. I'd rather starve," said Peter, slumping down between James and Remus.

"How'd you know how to start a fire like that Remus?" Sirius asked. He had never seen a wizard use an actual fire unless it was for the floo network and even then the prep work was already done.

"It's kind of necessary," Remus said quietly and with an air that told them not to ask why it was necessary so they fell silent.

Sirius never before appreciated how lively the night was. It wasn't just the wood snapping under the heat of the flame or the wind rustling the few leaves that were left on the trees or even his friends' steady breathing. The forest itself was alive, bugs crawled and chirped, wings fluttered overhead, and if he strained properly he thought he could hear hooves thundering in the distance. It was the kind of quiet that even James didn't feel the need to interrupt so Sirius was startled when James's voice broke the quiet in a sudden and urgent whisper.

"Sirius, don't move."

Sirius froze, a chill running down his spine. He tried to see whatever it was that had alerted James out of the corner of his eye, but all he could see was the dark silhouette of trees. He could hear something, perhaps a squirrel, scampering up the tree. No, a squirrel wouldn't sound that big.

Remus moved slowly to pick up his wand where he had tossed it aside. Crouching low, he pointed his wand well above Sirius's head and took a calculated aim. He shot a spell of blinding blue light and Sirius dived out of the way. James pulled him the rest of the way around the fire. There was an odd squeal and more scuttling.

"Dammit," Remus muttered, standing and moving around the fire to check that the rope holding the trophy was still intact.

"What was it?" asked James.

"Niffler," Sirius answered, too busy watching the other trophies to feel embarrassed.

"You had us scared of a bloody niffler!" James yelled at Remus. Remus waved a hand indicating that he should stay quiet.

"Those things'll rip your eyes out if it means they can get something shiny," Peter whispered, huddling closer to James and Sirius.

James's sigh sounded more like a groan and to who it was directed was unclear. "How do we catch it?"

" _Lucipula._ It works best nonverbally and aim carefully. If they start to feel threatened they will attack," Remus warned.

Using nonverbal spells was fairly simple if you had a firm grasp of the root spell. For once Sirius was grateful for his family's traditions, at least one of them. When normal children learnt cursive, the Blacks were taught several dead languages including Latin which was what this spell was rooted in so Sirius knew he'd be able to perform it with ease. The difficulty was being faster than the niffler. Sirius swore under his breath, watching as the creature who had so easily dodged his spell scuttled out of sight. Neither James nor Peter was able to accomplish the task either, but they both spoke the spell aloud.

"How many are there?" Peter whispered after their spells faded out.

"Six by my count," Remus answered.

"Sirius, move to the opposite side of the tree," James ordered in the furtive tone Sirius had learnt not to question. "Peter, take the east side. Remus, the south."

They moved swiftly into position while keeping eye contact with the tree, searching for the niffler James held stubbornly in sight. Sirius found it sniffing the rope they had tied to the branch. It was smaller than the others, perhaps still an infant.

"Together," James said locking eyes with Sirius who nodded. James looked at Peter who was nervously chewing his bottom lip and was gripping his wand with white knuckles. "Ready?" Peter nodded and he moved back to the niffler. "Three… Two…." James, instead of saying _one,_ shouted the spell at the same time as Peter. Four streams of blue light issued from four different directions and encased the niffler in a shining blue ball of light. The niffler froze, transfixed by his surroundings as they steadily brought it closer to the ground.

"Hold it steady," Remus warned, "concentrate on the spell. I'll get the sack." Remus lifted his wand and ran back to the fire. At the loss of Remus's magic, the ball dulled a little and the niffler blinked at them. Sirius wondered if it'd be able to break free.

"All right," Remus panted, striding toward the trapped niffler with the sack held open. "Drop it in."

The three of them moved in careful unison to drop the ball in the sack. The moment Remus closed it the niffler began to writhe and thrash, angrily snarling to be let out. Remus kept a tight hold on the neck of the sack as he knotted it closed.

"We just caught a niffler," Peter breathed.

"Hell yeah, we did," James grinned

"What if his pack tries to get him back?" Peter asked, nervously twisting his fingers.

"We'll be sure to leave a trail leading to your bed so it'll be _your_ eyes they eat instead of ours," Sirius said wickedly.

"Nifflers don't have packs, and they don't eat eyes," Remus said, moving back to their fire.

"What do they eat? 'Cause if he's gonna be staying with us until tonight he's gonna have to eat," James said, over a rustling, Sirius thought hadn't come from the nifflers but he couldn't be sure.

"I don't know, but they don't eat eyes," Remus said uncertainly.

"Shhhh," Sirius hissed. He was sure he heard a voice that could have been Hagrid's.

"What is -"

"Shh!"

Sirius stepped closer to where he had heard the voice and listened.

"Over here, Albus! I see a light." It was unmistakably Professor McGonagall voice leading Professor Dumbledore toward the only light source visible, their fire.

Sirius ran to kick dirt onto their fire to extinguish it.

"What, Sirius?" James demanded loudly.

"For Merlin's sake, shut up!" Sirius growled reaching for James and anyone else he could find to drag behind a large tree. "It's McGonagall and Dumbledore."

"What?" James hissed, peering around the tree. "That was Hagrid."

"I _heard_ Prof-"

"Guys, I see Flitwick," Peter muttered.

"They're going to expect to find something," Remus said, holding the niffler tightly against his chest. It was squealing much too loudly for Sirius's taste. "Hagrid probably saw our spells and thought it was something dangerous that's why they're all-"

" _Diminuendo_ ," Sirius muttered, shrinking the whining lump in Remus's arms so it's noise couldn't be heard.

"You can't shrink a living animal!" Remus hissed.

"They must have heard us coming," they heard Professor Haas whisper from somewhere close by.

"I'll go," Remus said, barely audible. "I'm sick they won't-"

James had moved out from behind the tree so quickly that Sirius had blinked and he was already in the clearing.

"Son of a-" Sirius tried to go after him but Remus caught him by the arm and apologetically pointed his wand to Sirius's feet; an unspoken threat to magically root him to the spot.

"Evening Professors," James said smoothly.

Sirius ripped the wand out of Remus's hand and ignored the angry look he got. Turning to Peter, he ordered, "If he tries to move, hex him."

"I was just out for a stroll," James shrugged.

"I asked him to come," Sirius said, taking his place by James's side. "Had a nightmare and didn't want to be alone."

"Well, Professor Dumbledore, considering the 'dark wizards' are a couple of rudimentary teenagers I think I'll return to bed," Professor Haas laughed and turned away without waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I think we should all return to bed," concurred Professor Flitwick.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid seemed to be on the verge of a heartfelt apology before Dumbledore stretched to place a hand on his arm.

"Would you do me the honour of treating me to a brandy Hagrid?" Dumbledore said kindly.

"O' course Professor," Hagrid said, a smile twitching behind his beard. He paused momentarily but continued when he realized Dumbledore wasn't going to follow right away. Dumbledore hummed and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, waiting for the rest of his party to leave the forest until only he and McGonagall, whose stern gaze held James and Sirius in their place, remained.

"Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew, would you be so kind as to join us?" McGonagall called.

"It's just-" James started but was silenced by a swiftly stern look from McGonagall. Remus and Peter came out and stood on either side of Sirius; Remus with a seamless mask of calm and Peter with a positively terrified expression.

"I am going to assume, but correct me if I am wrong, that Professor Kettleburn as informed you of the dangers of removing an animal from it's home," Dumbledore asked, his expression open and friendly like they were having this discussion over tea.

"Yes sir," Remus answered, promptly.

"I trust that you have left the creatures in this forest alone," Dumbledore continued and after they had issued their various forms of affirmations said, "Then the floor is yours, Professor McGonagall," and turned to leave.

McGonagall turned to make her way out of the forest. She gestured for them to follow.

"Hagrid said he saw you performing magic. What were you doing?" she questioned after they were able to match her strides.

"We were practising nonverbal magic," Sirius said, automatically.

"That is N.E.W.T level magic, Mr Black," she said, raising an eyebrow. Whether she was impressed or suspicious, Sirius couldn't tell.

"Thought we'd get a head start on it," James shrugged. "We heard N.E.W.T levels can be hard to keep up with."

McGonagall took a slow deep breath then nodded. "Based on what you've told Professor Dumbledore, I'm going to assume that you're telling the truth," she said and a ripple of relief flowed through Sirius, though he knew she wasn't done. "However, you have been caught out of bed, scared your teachers, and ventured into a forest you have been forbidden to enter without an escort. I have no choice but to punish you. All four of you will serve detention with me every night of next week, starting Monday. In addition, fifty points - yes, Potter - fifty points will be taken from each of you for your lack of self-preservation."

"But Professor that's two hundred points!" James exclaimed.

"Yes, Potter, it is. Maybe next time you'll think before you act," she said, sounding shrill. It seemed obvious now from the worry lines in her face and her slightly shaking fingers that she had been really scared which created the suspicion that she was being lenient with them. "Now march back up to the castle and go straight to bed.I expect to see you at breakfast in the morning looking well rested."

The four of them scurried past her without a backwards glance. No one commented on the fact that her last request was impossible to fulfil, considering it was only an hour before sunrise.

"Two hundred points and a week of detentions. Cresswell's going to kill us," James said.

The fact that Cresswell had threatened to make Sirius's life a living hell if he got _one_ more detention had crossed his mind, but it was quickly overshadowed when he saw McGonagall trembling in fear. It was quite strange that almost the entire staff had come out into the forest because Hagrid had seen something strange. Then he remembered that Professor Haas had said something about dark wizards.

"They were expecting us to be Death Eaters," Sirius said so only James could hear. "They thought that actual Death Eaters had broken into Hogwarts."

* * *

 *****Hey guys. I know it has been far too long since I last posted and I just wanted to thank you for being so wonderfully patient. I don't really have a good reason for not posting besides my lack of motivation: Some disappointing things have been happening recently in my personal life and I let it get to me and for that I apologise. I still have a lot of editing to do on this chapter but now that it's semi-readable I decided to post it and break my... almost two months of silence. *cringe* I really hope that you found it worthwhile and thank you for taking the time to read it.**

 **Hello and welcome to my new followers :D**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	50. Bad Moon Rising

**Chapter 20 of Year 4: Bad Moon Rising**

Josie took a smoker's breath, heavy on the intake through the nose and light on the release out of the mouth. It was a common movement but was done so perfectly that it led Lily to wonder if Josie had found other means of dealing with her anxiety. That was how Lily's grandfather had started; the same grandfather who died of lung cancer with a lit fag dangling between his slack fingers. Marlene entered the room before Lily could think of a casual way to ask Josie about it.

"If you see Frank before I do, tell him 'geraniums' from Alice. Apparently, he'll know what that means," Marlene said in a rush, peeling off her Quidditch robes and replacing them with her dressing gown. "Oh, and Snape said he's going to meet you there."

"Was he with Mulciber?" Lily asked trying not to sound upset about it. The only reason why Sev wouldn't wait for her would be because of Mulciber. Marlene shrugged and strolled out of the room.

"Tell Eilidh to hurry up!" Josie called after her. Lily watched Josie's expression on the mirror as she put on her lip gloss. "You can go. I'm just waiting for Eilidh."

"You nervous about tonight?" Lily asked casually, bending down to look like she was fixing the straps on her wedges.

"A little," she shrugged.

"Have you taken a calming draught?" Lily asked, unnecessarily smoothing her skirt.

"I'm not that nervous." Josie smiled confidently. "Marlene already reminded me to bring some with me so don't waste your breath."

"I'll see you there then." Lily breathed, loudly. At Josie's look of concern, she smiled, trying to seem nonchalant. She didn't feel comfortable about leaving Josie alone tonight but felt she couldn't stall any longer.

Lily had a bad feeling about tonight in general. Severus had called it nerves but then Remus didn't show up to class and that was usually a bad omen. Nothing terrible had happened in the day so far, but she had lost her favourite pen sometime during lunch and was forced to borrow a quill for the rest of the day. Maybe this time, Remus's absence was only a warning for a mild inconvenience.

Slughorn's dinner party was held in a banquet hall at the opposite end of the castle. Something about the room's stuffy and over glamorous appearance made Lily long for the easy atmosphere of the Great Hall.

"Lookin' good Lily," winked a Ravenclaw boy by the name of Gilles Zabini who always looked at her like that whether she was in dress robes or not.

"Thanks," she said shortly and glided past him without a second thought. She searched the room trying to find Severus.

Professor Slughorn was chatting with a bored looking woman, a smile never leaving his face. The woman wore a band of white diamonds around her head, black diamonds studded her ears and trailed around her neck, and a different stone adorned every finger on the hand she lazily used to bring a champagne glass to her overdrawn lips. Lily had the distinct impression that she wasn't listening to a word Slughorn was saying.

"Hey Lily!" a short Hufflepuff girl named Carina (and a close friend of Bertha Jorkins,) touched her arm. "Have you heard about the Death Eaters in the forbidden forest last night?"

"Death Eaters? No," Lily said, more confused than frightened. Any rumour coming from a friend of Bertha Jorkins was bound to be more speculation than truth.

"Yeah, apparently last night Hagrid saw a few Death Eaters cursing the castle and called Dumbledore. All the professors came out and chased them off but no one knows if their curse succeeded yet. I tried asking Professor Slughorn but he refused to say anything. You'd think he would, all things considered," Carina shrugged, gazing at Slughorn.

A thousand arguments flooded Lily's mind. She pursed her lips, trapping the words in and said instead, "I'm sure if it's anything important Dumbledore will tell us about it sooner or later." With a gentle smile, she pressed on, determined to find Severus, hoping, against her better logic, that he wasn't with his Slytherins friends.

"Oh! Frank," Lily said, reaching out to grab Frank Longbottom's attention. "Marlene told me that Alice said geraniums and that you'd know what that meant."

"Thanks. Um, are you - you're friends with James now, right?" Frank asked. Lily felt her face flushed scarlet. Her eyes dashed around the room, hoping neither Potter or Severus was anywhere near her.

"Er, not exactly. I mean it's complicated," she said awkwardly, guilt coursing through her.

"Oh. Well, do you know if he was planning on coming here tonight? Sirius is here and it's kinda suspicious not to see them together," Frank said, a worry line forming between his brows.

A cruel voice in the back of her head gave her an unnecessary reminder: Remus wasn't in class today.

"Black is here?" she asked. She couldn't think of any reason why they would arrive separately.

"Yeah, with Slughorn." Frank pointed toward where Lily had seen Professor Slughorn talking with that woman with the diamonds. Turning, she now saw both the Black brothers standing with Rabastan Lestrange; he seemed to be the only one carrying a conversation with the now attentive woman.

"Potter never told me he wasn't coming, but I'll ask Black," Lily promised.

"Thanks. I'll go back around. Maybe I missed him," Frank said, his face now tense with determination.

"If you see Severus Snape, tell him I'm with Slughorn," Lily requested. Frank waved a hand without turning around before he disappeared in the crowd.

Before Lily had reached the group, Slughorn gestured for her to move quicker, his face lighting up. "Lily Evans meet Amoriel Lestrange. Miss Evans is one of my top students."

"Pleasure," the diamond-encrusted woman, Amoriel Lestrange, said dully, graciously accepting Lily's offered hand. Lily noted that her grip was especially weak.

"Oh, the pleasure's mine. I've been looking forward to meeting you." Lily grinned, broadly, and spoke in a preppy and excited voice. However, her mind was swirling with a thousand negative thoughts about what could have caused Severus and Potter to disappear at the same time.

"How sweet." Mrs Lestrange's smile was more like a snarl. The elder Black scoffed loudly and gulped down his drink while the younger glared at him. Rabastan Lestrange smiled. His eyes looked sinisterly amused, and it gave Lily an odd empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Miss Evans is particularly interested in the Wizengamot," Slughorn said, determined to keep a conversation flowing between himself and Mrs Lestrange. Lily didn't want to be apart of this conversation at all but it was apparent to her that this connection was very important to her professor. They had formed an odd sort of friendship over the years so she didn't let her irritation show.

"Yes, ma'am. I hope to have a seat with them one day, partially inspired by your hand in The Public v Thicknesse trial," she lied but she had a feeling that flattery was the way to go with Mrs Lestrange. The woman did indeed puff up like a peacock and continued the conversation looking down her nose at Lily.

"It would be smart to have a backup plan just in case. The Wizengamot doesn't accept simply _anyone."_

Lily did not like the way Amoriel Lestrange said " _anyone._ " It sounded more like she meant any _thing,_ and that anything meant Lily and Lily meant dirt.

"Oh, I know," Lily grinned, allowing only her toes to curl in indignation. "I want to start in the Department of International Cooperation, specifically the International Confederation of Wizards." She didn't need to say "like Angelina Martin," which had been Mrs Lestrange's biggest competition in The Public v Thicknesse trial.

"Yes, you do have to be somewhat _adaptable_ to fill those seats."

Once again, Mrs Lestrange's word " _adaptable"_ seemed to have a double meaning, one that made Lily feel minuscule.

"Okay! Why is no one dancing?" Black demanded, suddenly and loudly. "There's music playing and no one dancing! Evans?"

Without waiting for an answer, Black grabbed her and ushered her away from the group into a small clearing in the crowd and began to 'dance' but it was more her holding him up as he swayed in no particular rhythm.

"Are you drunk?" Lily asked, laughing at the idea. He didn't smell drunk.

"Maybe a smidge but you have no idea how good champagne tastes," Black said, fighting to stand on his own. "I can feel the world spinning," he whispered, staring at his shoes.

"I'm surprised you've never tried champagne before," Lily laughed.

"Mum said I already acted like an idiot and that I don't need any help in that department,'' Black said taking her hand and starting to move them in a sloppy waltz.

"Partially true," Lily said, watching their feet carefully so she didn't get stepped on. He sniggered.

"Hey, that's mean!" he exclaimed but he was shocked and not insulted so Lily didn't feel bad about laughing.

"Sirius?" She said cautiously. He hummed in response, gazing over her head at something lightened his face and stilled his drunken swaying. Lily didn't think it polite to look. "What did Lestrange mean by adaptable?"

"That bitch!" Black said, looking down at her. He wasn't angry with her but there was a ferocity in his eyes that chilled her. "She was talking about you being a muggle-born and how you're learning to live in the wizarding world."

"That's not really a bad thing," Lily mumbled.

"Yeah, well, believe me, she doesn't mean it as a compliment," he said, returning to stare at whatever it was behind her.

"I'm not insulted," she said honestly. Out of all of her faults not being pure-blooded was the stupidest one. Lily didn't even consider it to be a fault. She was able to do something that Amoriel Lestrange, with all her money, power, and connection could never do. It wasn't a weakness it was a strength, one that people like Amoriel Lestrange needed to stop underestimating.

"Good," Sirius said and half turned them with a swooping step. Lily peered around him curiously but saw nothing except Frank talking with Marlene, Alice, Eilidh, and Josie.

"Do you know where Potter is?" Lily asked, remembering the reason why she had approached him in the first place. Either she was getting better at reading him or his remaining drunkenness was delaying his reactions; whatever the reason, he looked guilty.

"Er, no," he said, clearing his throat. Within seconds he wore his familiar mask of innocence.

"Right." Lily took her hand from his. Something was happening to Severus, she knew it. "Do you know _generally_ where he is?"

"On his way," Black shrugged. "Do you know when they're going to serve food 'cause I'm in half a mind to-"

"Black! What are you two up to?" Lily demanded.

"Nothing," he said, shocked that he, of all people, would be accused of being up to something.

"Where's Remus?" Lily asked. It had to be connected, it just had to.

"He's ill," Black answered promptly.

"And Peter?" she continued.

Black gave a long shrug. "Didn't want to come. Can't say I blame him."

"Is Potter with Severus?" She held her breath, studying his face as she waited for his answer.

Black made a derisive noise of disgust. "No! He hates the fucker. Why would he seek him out? Isn't his fault the idiot turns up everywhere he goes. Why don't you tell him to get a life?"

"Stop it!" Lily warned, her hands balled into fists at her sides. Black sighed irritably.

"Look," he breathed. "I'll help you find James if you want. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you knowing what he's up to."

"So you are up to something?" Lily accused.

"Oh, shut up." Black stormed past her, not looking to see if she would follow. Lily fought with the need to hit him with a good stinging hex and the need to know what Potter was up to.

She started to follow him before she had consciously decided to do it. He wasn't heading for the door that led out to the rest of the castle, instead, he strode directly to the window that opened into a balcony. He opened it up, letting a chill flow through the room and found a couple too preoccupied to come up for air let alone to look at who had discovered them. Sirius turned quickly away, looking embarrassed but then he chuckled softly.

"She was right," he whispered. Lily looked back at the couple. Fabian Lynch and Moira Castro's relationship was a very public affair, one that Lily knew for sure that Black knew about. Every time he and Potter had seen the couple show any form of affection to each other in the corridor they made it a point to interrupt them: It was a spectacle that both amused and annoyed her.

"Who and what was she right about?" Lily asked.

"Nothing," Black said in a way that warned her to not ask any more questions. He strode away, leaving her to close the window before scurrying to follow.

There was a door hidden behind the self-playing orchestra that Black cracked open. He pulled his head back quickly with a pained expression.

"No one's been in there for ages," he said, sounding like he was holding back a gag or a sneeze. He cleared his throat and turned away. Lily was beginning to wonder if he actually knew where Potter was.

Black moved forward, grasping her hand so they wouldn't be separated by the crowd. This time he led her out the door to the rest of the castle, the sound of their party echoing through the empty corridor until the door was shut and all fell silent. It was so quiet she could hear Black's steady breathing and the flames from the torches whispering in the air.

"Does this seem odd to you?" Black asked, his eyes sweeping over every inch of the corridor in such a paranoid way it made Lily's stomach churn with fright.

"Wands out?" she asked. She didn't know if they should really be expecting danger but the sudden change in mood was odd. The castle was usually lively even at night but there wasn't a ghost or stray pet in sight.

"Maybe," he said, stepping forward without taking out his wand. Lily took out hers just to be safe.

They moved slowly and steadily like they were on a casual stroll throughout the castle. Black's intense vigilance never ceased though, and that only aided Lily's fear.

She could hear a soft murmur of voices now, and dull thuds occasionally accompanied by low grunts, all of which began to build in volume as they came closer to the source. Black's pace had hastened from a casual stroll to a hurried walk.

A voice had muttered 'something, something, Potter.' It was the goading, sneering tone behind the word Potter that made the speaker's intentions quite clear: Someone was trying to hurt James.

But James couldn't be hurt. James Potter, with his constant smirk and playful eyes, was impervious to pain.

Black jogged along the corridor, his wand in hand, head-turning frantically from side to side. And then they heard it; a scream of pain that caused Black to break out into a run and Lily to be filled with sickening dread.

Someone had hurt James.

Lily arrived at the scene at the same time as Black. There was a small circle formed down the Charms corridor barely illuminated by a single moonbeam. In the middle stood a single figure, leering at something on the ground. The left side of the circle was pushing a second figure back into standing position. A pair of square glasses glinted in the moonlight as James stumbled to regain his balance then he charged at the first figure. He didn't use his wand but his fists. He punched his opponent three times, each time blood spewed from the oppositions face. _Smack! - Smack! - Smack!_ After the third, a deafening crunch like bones breaking sounded and Lily screamed while Black broke into action.

" _Stupefy! Impedimenta! Petrificus Totalus!"_ He cast the spells so quickly his wand movements were blurred. The three people who were blocking the centre of their circle dropped. James was standing, panting, covered in a sheen of sweat, fists still clenched hanging at his side, glaring down at his opponent who had fallen to the ground.

Severus stared up at Potter with an equal amount of hatred, blood trickling down from his swollen nose into his slightly parted lips. Behind them stood three more people, Slytherins, pointing their wands at Black.

"Severus," she said, her voice sounding hollow and unnatural. There had to be more to what happened here than what it seemed.

"He started it," Severus said in a low waspish voice as he clambered to his feet.

"Bull shit!" James gave a short ironic laugh that made Lily's stomach flip.

"Typical Potter, too stupid to remember something that happened less than five minutes ago," Severus sneered. It wasn't Potter that dived for him but Black.

Black and Severus rolled on the floor, fighting for dominance while knees collided with chests, elbows with faces, and fists with heads. The Slytherins backed out of their way but Potter stooped to grab one of them and ended up pulling Severus off.

"Stop!" Lily ordered, the strength in her voice finally returning. "Let go of him!" She stormed forward, her wand pointed at Potter as she reached out to tug Severus from his grasp.

"I didn't start this," Potter said, his voice hoarse and eyes cold. He held out a hand to signal Black to stay put. For whatever reason, Black listened.

"Just leave him alone," Lily said and pushed Severus away before he could get a chance to say anything.

"I didn't need your help," Severus said softly. Still, Lily thought she heard a note of bitterness in his tone.

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't about to stand there and watch that happen," Lily said, her voice embarrassingly thick.

"You didn't have to, you could have walked away," he said, staring at his feet moving briskly like he was trying to get away from her.

"I'm taking you to the hospital wing!" Lily told him and she was distantly reminded of her sister telling her parents that she _would_ be staying out past her curfew.

"I don't need to go -"

"You're bleeding, Sev -"

"It'll stop on its own!"

"And it'll give you time to explain to me exactly what happened," Lily said as threateningly as she could muster.

"You believe him?" It wasn't a question, though it was posed as one; it was an accusation, one that Lily needed to dispel quickly.

"As your _best friend,_ Severus, I'm concerned for you and would like to know what happened," she said, steadily.

"But he's your friend too, isn't he? I'm not an idiot and I'm not blind. I see you smiling at him in class. Talking to him in the corridors when you think I'm not there." Severus stopped there but seemed to want to say so much more. He was never supposed to find out about that, she thought she had been discreet.

Lily had only herself to blame. She had been lying to him for weeks and, yes, sneaking around with James Potter. Disloyalty. There was no other word for it. She had committed a disgusting, sneaky act of disloyalty and in doing so she had shown Severus that his friendship meant nothing.

She leant forward and kissed his cheek. When she spoke she did it gently hoping her sincerity showed in her tone because she couldn't muster the courage for a true confession.

"Friends don't treat each other like that. Friends don't hurt each other. If he was my true friend he wouldn't have hurt you no matter the history between you two because hurting you hurts me."

Severus stilled and his expression became unreadable; it always did when things reached an emotion besides anger. Lily linked her arm with his and started leading him toward the hospital wing.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Lily asked, cautiously. She didn't want their argument to start again.

"Potter tripped me," he said quickly. "I pushed him back then… I don't know it, happened so quickly it's kind of a blur."

It made sense. Potter had tripped Severus too many times to count and Severus wasn't the kind of person to walk away, especially in front of his Slytherin friends. She didn't ask why he and his friends weren't at the party; she didn't want to know.

* * *

 ********I used a riddle originally written by Tolkien and didn't give him credit for it (thank you to the guest reader who pointed this out to me) in chapter 43**

 **Jily shippers don't hate me, it'll happen I promise. Lily stans, I'm sorry...**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	51. Fight or Fall

**Chapter 26 of Year 4: Fight or Fall**

James couldn't think. He had stopped thinking hours ago. Or had it really only been five minutes? Regardless, now that he was actually trying to think he couldn't. He felt a tight grasp around his hand and a tugging against the muscles in his arm. He realised that he was pulling Sirius to his feet.

The Slytherins stood staring at them. Mulciber, Avery, and some other bastard he had never bothered to learn the name of stood like they weren't quite sure what to do.

"What are you staring at?" James didn't mean to yell. He also didn't mean for his hands to shake and his legs to feel so weak but they did. "Get outta here!"

"Why should we Potty?" sneered the one James didn't know the name of. His face was now so ingrained into his retinas, he didn't think it would take long to learn his name. Avery and Mulciber slowly stepped in opposite directions, forming yet another circle this time intent on trapping him and Sirius together, a mistake that would end poorly for them.

"How would you like to wear your guts as a garter belt?" Sirius asked conversationally, he might have been asking how they liked their tea.

The unnamed one scoffed, shared a look with his cohorts, then slinked off without another word.

"What a bunch of creeps," Sirius said, snarling at the place their heels had disappeared.

Sirius was looking at him. James saw it but he couldn't understand it.

"Where's Peter?" he asked, finally.

"We separated," James heard himself say. Do out of body experiences usually last this long? He could feel himself slowly coming to. He knew why he and Peter had separated. They were looking for a hidden entrance into the party. "He's got the niffler. He's probably let it go by now."

That sounded about right. Five minutes was plenty of time to get the job done. He didn't know why he had the phrase "less than five minutes" stuck in his head.

"We need to find him," Sirius said. He didn't sound concerned, scared, or even angry and for that James was grateful.

"Snap out of it, man!" Sirius was shaking his shoulder roughly. James inhaled deeply. Apparently, he had been holding his breath. His right hand felt stiff. He tried to move it but the action only sent a jolt of pain through his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm awake." He hadn't been asleep, but awake seemed like the proper word to use here. At least he could think again. "Let's go find Peter."

James stepped around Rosier, another unknown… and Abbot. Abbot was back in school and had joined the Slytherin gang of wannabe Death Eaters. He cocked his head to see if Sirius had noticed but if he had he wasn't giving off any signs. Maybe he was waiting until they were alone so they could talk freely or maybe he wasn't going to ask at all. Sirius was sometimes unpredictable like that. But it wouldn't make sense for Sirius not to ask. This fight affected him too now.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. His throat felt like he had swallowed something bitter and dry.

"For what?" Sirius laughed.

"I ruined things for you and Eilidh," James said, unsure of where the words came from but unable to deny the truth. One face appeared frequent and clear in his mind. "Lily."

"If Lily's got half a brain then she'll be able to tell that wasn't your fault. You're an idiot, but you're not suicidal," Sirius said. Lily was smart, smarter than most, but for some reason, James believed Sirius to be wrong this time.

The pain didn't stop even after he let his hand rest. In fact, it only served to point out his other aches. His shoulder and knees were unpleasantly sore from when he had fallen on them. His head was starting to ache; he could feel it growing like a virus from the inside out.

"Peter!" Sirius called. Peter was hurriedly forcing his way out of the door to Slughorn's party.

"Run!" Peter squeaked, lurching toward them so quickly he tripped over the hem of his robes. There was a loud, ear-splitting shriek and Sirius grinned. He grabbed Peter's arm as he ran by and pulled him back.

"We want to get caught," Sirius reminded. So they waited with their hands in their pockets, listening to the screams and clattering from within until Slughorn peaked his head out of the door. "Now we can run."

They didn't stop running when Slughorn called for them to, or when Filch and Nearly Headless Nick told them to slow down, not even when Peeves floated between their legs trying to trip them. Only when they reached the Tower and Peter keeled over did they stop. Sirius laughed and fell back onto a step.

"That was funny. Wish we had a picture of that for our wall," he said, grinning.

"Yeah, what happened? You were supposed to be in there taking the picture," Peter asked. Sirius's eyes flashed so quickly to James and back that James couldn't be sure it actually happened.

"All right, mate?" Peter wasn't good at keeping the worry out of his voice.

"I'm fine," James said defensively.

"So fine that you'd leave your wand back there?" Sirius asked, digging into his pocket and pulling out James's wand. He remembered now, he had dropped it when he was knocked down. "No one would think any less of you for going to see Pomfrey. It was seven against one."

"I'm fine," James repeated firmly. He wasn't fine. Waves of pain shot through him so frequently it was hard to tell where one ended and another began, every joint felt like they were hanging on by a thread, and his right hand was at least bruised but more probably broken. His head was pulsing and his vision was blurred.

"You should listen to your friends," the Fat Lady spoke wisely. He should listen to his friends but he was too stubborn or stupid or both to do anything that was good for him at the moment.

"Wattlebird," James said as the portrait swung open muttering about how no one ever listened to her. James had thought that he had used up all of his fear tonight but then she had to reach to the common room before him.

Lily Evans laid stretched out on the couch with her bare feet propped up on the armrest, her painted toes wiggling freely, her matching fingernails pinching the bridge of her nose with her other hand thrumming against her stomach. Her eyes were closed and she hadn't realised he had come in yet.

"All right, Evans?" Sirius asked, brightly. Perhaps he was trying to prove he had been right earlier. Whatever his reason it was a stupid one.

Lily's lips always seemed somehow fuller when she was angry. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkled brightly, dangerously. Her hair had fallen loose from its previous updo in a kind of dishevelment that took James's breath away and pierced his chest.

"I trusted you," she said in a low voice full of terrifying emotion. Every one of her muscles were tense, even her hands were clawed as she waved them about. "I trusted you. I actually trusted you and you…" Lily breathed heavily, staring at him, waiting for something. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

The only thing James could think to say was 'please don't cry' but the request would very likely end in her throwing her shoes at his head.

"What would you like me to say?" he asked. She hadn't asked any questions, all she said was that she trusted him. He knew that; he had enjoyed it and he hadn't done anything to break it, but she wasn't going to listen, not when Snape got to her first and the image of him beating Snape to the ground was so fresh in her memory.

"It wasn't his fault," Peter said quietly, even though he hadn't been there. James felt a twitch of a smile but it was gone in an instant.

"How do you know? You didn't see and I doubt you asked those Slytherins!" Lily yelled at Peter then her eyes shifted back to James. "Fact is you hate Severus. Always have, always will, doesn't matter if we're friends or not."

James shrugged. He saw no reason to deny this. He hated the slimy, oily, git point blank. Lily laughed but it was a horrible, hurt sort of laugh.

"I can't believe I was actually friends with you. Biggest mistake I could have ever made!" She sounded shrill now, almost hysterical.

"It wasn't a mistake," James said. An intense feeling had crept up inside James: He wanted to grab her, to make her see, to make her know just as well as he did that this hadn't been a mistake.

"What's going on?" Eilidh had stepped out from behind James. She cast a look of concern upon everyone else in the room, a panic-stricken one on Sirius, then Lily, and back to James - this look was angry and she didn't even know what happened yet.

"Prove it," Lily hissed. "Maybe then you won't look like such a psychopath but just a spoiled little brat who needs to make everyone else feel small in order to feel significant."

"You wanna see a psychopath, look at your boy-toy!" James snarled.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lily screamed.

"It means that you're a -"

Sirius pulled James back by his elbow, forcing him to break eye contact with Lily, uttering a quiet, "James, don't."

The spell was broken, his words were lost, and he couldn't remember why he had been angry with Lily.

"No, say it! Tell me what you mean!" Lily demanded.

James couldn't say it. He couldn't believe the word had crossed his mind while looking at Lily let alone formed on his tongue. He felt immensely grateful for Sirius at the moment.

"You're blind. You can't see what Snape is," James said calmly, which was a lot easier to do now all the emotion was drained out of him.

"Like you're such a saint. And I'm blind? You can't even see past your -" Lily finished her sentence with an angry groan. "I'm done." She turned on the spot, threw her hands up in the air, and stomped to the girls' dormitories. "I'm just done."

James believed it. From now on he was going to be nothing more to her than Potter - the psychopathic, spoiled brat who bullies people just to feel good about himself.

"What the hell?" Eilidh hissed from somewhere behind him. He found that he couldn't turn around, his eyes were glued to the girls' dormitory steps.

"Just come on," Sirius grumbled and pulled James by a fist full of his shirt toward the boys' dormitory.

* * *

 ********Once again, I'm sorry Lily fans.**

 **I'm going to be a bit unreliable for... well a while. Life's a bitch who likes to get in the way of what you really want to do. Thanks for sticking with me, it means a lot.**

 **Thanks for reading, following, favouriting, and reviewing. You guys are the absolute best readers a writer could ask for.**

 **All rights reserved to the proper owners**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*********


	52. Time to Pick a Side

**Chapter 27 of Year 4:** **Time to Pick a Side**

Their dormitory was messier than Peter remembered leaving it. It looked like whatever happened to James happened in here. He was uncomfortably aware of how closely Eilidh was watching him, how her stare lingered momentarily on the scratches and bite marks on his hands and forearms, how she looked so concerned at James it was almost motherly yet there was something like contempt in her eyes as well.

There was something very wrong with James tonight. He looked faint, his face was gaunt, he swayed whenever he stood for a prolonged second, and his speech was slightly slurred when he wasn't yelling. When he moved his movements were twitchy, jumpy almost. It was like he was stuck in a strange limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness - the conscious part of him still in an adrenaline-fueled fight or flight response.

Sirius was being too gentle with him. He should be telling him to get his shit together, demanding to know why he hadn't defended himself against Evans. It was entirely un-Sirius-like to kick the clutter off his trunk before slowly easing James down on it then filling the plastic cup he kept on his bedside table only to press it into James's hand.

"Drink." It wasn't an order or even a request. Sirius was gently begging James to drink the water kind of like how he had casually begged him to go to the hospital wing on the other side of the portrait.

"Someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Eilidh asked. Peter could tell that she had intended for her voice to sound stern and angry but it came out sickly instead like she was fighting the urge to vomit.

"He started it," James said, speaking to the air before he emptied the cup in one gulp. Sirius took it out of his hands and refilled it. "I was just walking past and he tripped me."

"There were seven of them," Sirius angrily told Eilidh but he still studied James with the amount of concentration only Sirius could use. Eilidh's mouth opened slightly and the anger he had seen before disappeared.

"James hold out your hands, flat like this." Eilidh held both hands out in front of her, palms down. There was a distinct nurturing warmth that radiated off of her that made Peter want to curl up and fall asleep.

James did as Eilidh showed him. His hands were shaking so furiously it reminded Peter of his neighbour's chihuahua. Eilidh fingered the silky blue ribbon she had tied around her waist and pulled out a phial of turquoise coloured liquid.

"Drink this. It's a Calming Draught. It'll help clear your head." Eilidh handed it over and James took it without protest. Sirius shot her a quizzical look. "Josie doesn't like parties. Especially when she feels she doesn't belong." Sirius nodded but Peter didn't think he really understood.

Instantly, whatever it was that made James so not-James melted away and he just looked tired. His eyelids drooped over his eyes so they were only half open, his squared shoulders slumped, and his shaking hands hung limply over the edge of the trunk like they were too heavy to hold up. Eilidh stepped forward quickly and grabbed James by his shirt collar to pull him up. Peter hadn't realised James had been falling.

"You all right?" Eilidh asked and James nodded blinking rapidly.

"I've never seen anyone react that way to a Calming Draught," Sirius said worriedly instead of suspiciously. Peter had missed the moment when Sirius decided to trust her.

"He was running on adrenaline until now. He'll be fine, just give him a second," Eilidh answered.

"'m fine," James mumbled.

"How 'bout we start with why you and James weren't at the party together?" Eilidh asked, finally releasing James. The nurturing tone to her voice was gone and was replaced by a professionally brisk one. She sounded like a detective and Peter hated detectives. However, he felt compelled to speak.

"We were pulling a prank," Peter answered.

"The niffler?" Eilidh asked though she already knew the answer. Peter and Sirius nodded. Sirius, for once, looked more guilty than him. "Thought as much. Go on."

"My cousin was there," Sirius said, "and Regulus had already yelled at me for not meeting her in Hogsmeade so I decided to go early. James was planning on coming after he got Peter and the niffler situated."

"He didn't want to go through the door. He thought it would be too obvious and the castle's full of secret passages so we split up to find one," Peter explained. He didn't think him actually finding a secret passage was important at the moment so he looked at James now because this was the extent he knew of James's night.

James jumped into the normal, fully-awake-James sitting position and cleared his throat, realizing that they were waiting for him.

"It was just Snape and Avery at first. They were leaning against the wall separated by the adjacent corridor. I didn't say anything, didn't even look at them, I had better things to do. Then Snape tripped me. I pushed him back and basically told him to bugger off. Then Avery pushed me down that corridor…. It's kind of a blur after that. There was too many curses to keep up with and I didn't know half of them. I remember duelling Snape and he hit me with something pretty freaking painful and I lost my wand so I just hit him and that's when…."

"Evans and I came," Sirius finished.

"Yeah," James said. He was staring at the shoe lying on its side between his and Remus's beds. "She screamed I think."

"I think you broke Snively's nose," Sirius growled but he was smiling proudly at James. James's body moved like he was laughing but no sound came with it.

"I think I broke my hand," James said, now examining his right hand; it was definitely fatter than his left and had angry purple and blue splotches forming on the knuckles.

"You forgot to fold your thumb," Eilidh said, gently holding James's swollen hand, turning slightly so she could see the thumb. "Yeah, you smashed it into your hand. You're lucky it's not dislocated but it's definitely broken. You have to fold your thumb."

She showed him what she meant using her own fist. She proceeded by telling him to keep his wrist straight, to hit with his body not just with his fists, to look at who he was hitting, and to not think about the pain. She repeated that last part so it must be important. Peter wondered for the first time what kind of life she led when she wasn't with the four of them. If James or Sirius had any questions they didn't ask so Peter didn't either.

"You should go to the hospital." Peter didn't know how this transition came about but Eilidh had suddenly become nurturing again.

"Nah." James shook his head and scrunched up his nose probably thinking of the nasty potions he'd be forced to take.

"You broke your wand hand, James," Eilidh said, fighting for reason. James merely shrugged. "You'll get to see Remus."

"I'm tired. He's _really_ tired. We all just need to sleep," James said, beginning to crawl into the bed even though it wasn't his.

"Let me wrap it at least. Unless anyone else knows how to med bones?" Once again she asked a question she already knew the answer to but this time she wasn't expecting a response. She removed the silky ribbon from around her waist and wrapped it gently but firmly around the hand James held out for her. Sirius helped her remove his jacket and shoes. James fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

* * *

 ********Drama. Angst. More drama and more angst. I wonder what will come next?**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, following, favouriting, and reviewing...**

 **You know the drill,**

 **XO********


	53. Trouble on the Way

**Chapter 28 of Year 4: THE CHAPTER I WAS GOING TO CALL BAD MOON RISING BEFORE MY SCATTERED BRAIN FUCKED IT UP (grr) so let's call it Trouble on the Way instead. (UGH I DON'T LIKE IT)**

It was the silence that woke him. Even at night while everyone was asleep, their dormitory was always somehow lively. With Remus snoring, Peter twisting about, and James mumbling incoherently there was usually some ambient noise to lull him back to sleep. This morning was different.

He was on the floor, to begin with, next to what would be his bed if James hadn't passed out in it the night before. His plush blanket, that was supposed to be under him to protect his elbows and ribs from the hardwood floor, was now on top and smothering him in heat. He rolled over and attempted to ignore the strangeness for the sake of a few more minutes of sleep. Through his eyelashes, he saw a river of brown hair, shining in the early morning sun and he was able to remember a few blurred images.

He remembered being angry and annoyed. He remembered dancing with Lily and being proud of her. He remembered running. Hearing the sickening crunch of breaking bones. James's slurred words and unfocused eyes.

Eilidh slept curled up across the room in last nights dress robes because they were supposed to be keeping an eye on James and it was his turn. He shot up, his head spinning as a wave of nausea hit him. His head ached horribly. He shouldn't have fallen asleep.

James appeared to be exactly as he last remembered seeing him. In fact, it was exactly the same as when they had put him to bed. The blanket was drawn over his torso, his arm securely at his sides, his mouth in a perfectly straight line across his face. He usually slept with his mouth gaping open, drool dampening his pillow. He was always sweaty in the morning but today he was perfectly dry.

"James?" Sirius murmured, poking into his shoulder hard. James didn't move. Sirius shook him roughly and spoke firmly, "James," before taking a step back. Surely this would cause some turmoil of a reaction.

"Wha's the matter?" Peter yawned, rubbing his eyes, sitting up in his bed.

"He won't wake up." Sirius's usually overactive mind had gone as still as James. He couldn't think of what to do.

Peter crossed the room, pointed his wand at James and said, " _Aguamenti_."

"Peter!" Sirius pulled Peter by his sleeve as water spewed from his wand onto James. He still didn't wake.

Stubbornly, Sirius stepped forward.

" _Rennervate_!"

James's body reacted to the spell then fell back, as still as ever.

"He - he's still breathing," Peter pointed out unnecessarily.

"Yes, Pete, he's not dead!" Sirius hissed angrily, his heart suddenly thundering in his chest. "We need to take him to Madam Pomfrey."

"How're we going to do that?" Peter asked, gazing at Sirius with a worried expression which only served to aid his agitation.

"It's a first-year spell, Peter," Sirius spat and with a swish and flick of his wand, the mattress rose to hover over the bed frame.

Peter dashed to hold the door open while Sirius pushed the mattress into motion, ripping the bed curtain in his haste.

Madam Pomfrey was not in the Hospital Wing. Sirius set James down on one of the hospital beds, pounded on the witch's office door at the end of the ward, and received no answer.

"What's the point of having a nurse if she's never fucking here?"

"I don't think Remus is here either," Peter said carefully, probably afraid of setting Sirius off again.

With effort Sirius held back a belittling 'so?' and instead, stared at Peter until he answered the unspoken question.

"Maybe she's taking him to the shack? It is a… full moon tonight," Peter mumbled.

"They should have a teacher take him. It's a hospital wing for Merlin's sake!" Sirius groaned, kicked the door, and then with a sudden burst of determinations pointed his wand to the handle. " _Alohomora."_

The office door swung open revealing a desk covered with large stacks of paper and bookshelves overstuffed with books on healing magic. Sirius strode for the biggest book in sight.

"Sirius are you sure-"

"Quiet, Peter," Sirius muttered, searching through the index but for what he hadn't the faintest idea.

"Sirius -"

"Shut up, Peter!"

"You three again! I told you yesterday they'll be no visiting Mr Lupin today. He's much too sick." It seemed that Madam Pomfrey had taken one look at Peter and had assumed that it was all three of them returning, against her repeated instructions, to visit Remus as they had done so often in the past. This time was different.

"It's James," Sirius said loudly so she could hear him from her office. He shoved the book back on its shelf and ran out. "He didn't wake up this morning."

"What do you mean?" Madam Pomfrey asked rather stupidly in Sirius's opinion but she appeared to be positively perplexed by this.

"Exactly what I said," Sirius snapped. "You should have a teacher take Remus out, people don't plan emergencies!"

For one measly second Madam Pomfrey's expression contorted with anger. Then, she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm.

"Where is your friend?" she asked patiently. Sirius pointed to where he had left James's unmoving body and watched as Madam Pomfrey pry his eyelids open and take his pulse.

"One of you needs to tell me exactly what happened. The other, go fetch Professor Slughorn. I do hope he's awake at this hour." Madam Pomfrey's voice came out constricted and professional which was not reassuring.

"I'll get Slughorn," Peter muttered and with a quick worried glance at Sirius scurried out of the ward.

Sirius told her of every blurred image he could remember from dancing with Lily to putting James to bed. He skipped over their argument in the common room, considering it unimportant.

"Where did your friend get the calming draught?" Pomfrey questioned. Sirius didn't know. Eilidh had seemed so sure of what to do at the time he didn't think to question it.

Pomfrey sighed irritably and shook her head.

"Go get Professor McGonagall."

"I'm staying with James," Sirius stated, defiantly. Madam Pomfrey held her carefully fixed expression this time though her voice was more stern than patient.

"As Head of Gryffindor house, it is her-"

"Poppy?"

Sirius had never before been particularly happy to see Slughorn but he was grateful to see him striding quickly through the ward.

"I was hoping you could help with the Rontgen Powder?" Madam Pomfrey scurried around James's bed to a pantry and pulled out a small pouch very like the ones used to carry Floo Powder.

"What's Rontgen Powder?" Sirius asked, taking a small step closer to James.

"New healing magic," Slughorn explained, "used to see beneath the skin." Slughorn rolled up his sleeves, his eyes scrutinizing Sirius under thick, frowned eyebrows. "I do believe I have a bone to pick with you, Mr Black."

"But why do you need to use that powder stuff on James?" Sirius questioned, ignoring Slughorn's change of topic. The prank was so trivial in comparison Sirius wondered how he could even think of it.

"James will be fine, my boy, it's just to make sure everything is operating properly," Slughorn said breezily, accepting the pouch from Madam Pomfrey.

"Please get Professor McGonagall," she said firmly, then to Slughorn, "where's the other one?"

"I sent him to get the friend," muttered Slughorn, sprinkling gold powder over James. It hovered a few inches over his body, swirling into wispy swirls before taking the form of James's muscles.

"The Calming Draught?" Pomfrey asked.

Slughorn nodded, almost absentmindedly, his fingers twitching oddly. The powder began to swirl again this time forming into a million lines, each one alive with some sort of pulsing current. It swirled again and reformed into James's skeletal system.

"Professor McGonagall!" Pomfrey hissed, pointing a harsh finger at the door.

Sirius reluctantly moved forward, keeping a watchful eye over his shoulder as he went. The powder had taken the form of James's organs. Slughorn picked up the gold brain and twisted it, to see it from different angles. Slughorn split the brain in halves, then in fourths.

"Ah! Here, Poppy." He pointed at a spot on James's floating brain. He didn't look worried. Neither did Madam Pomfrey as she murmured in agreement so Sirius opened the door with a smaller amount of reluctance.

"Oi! Fistie!" The first year he had spotted, probably making her way to breakfast, jumped and spun around. "You know where McGonagall's office is?" She nodded. "Go get her then!"

"Is everything alright?" the first year asked, looking more curious than concerned.

"Go get McGonagall!" Sirius barked and she jumped again but this time she started for McGonagall's office, muttering along the way.

"What happened to James's brain?" Sirius demanded after making sure the hospital's doors were safely shut behind him. The last thing they needed now was rumours flying around about James.

"He's been concussed," Pomfrey said shortly. "Now really, go -"

"I've sent a first year to get her," Sirius argued, moving closer to James so he could see their work. They were still working with the powder but it now resembled a magnified spider's web rather than a brain. He chewed on the skin around his thumb. He's had a concussion before, it hadn't turned out like this.

"We need Professor Haas. I don't want to pull him out if it was a curse that sent him into it," Pomfrey said, attempting to speak quietly so Sirius wouldn't hear.

"Into what? What's wrong with him?" The only curse that Sirius ever heard of that could make someone so unresponsive was the killing curse. He had to remind himself that James was still breathing.

"Oh!" Madam Pomfrey growled.

"Sirius," Professor Slughorn draped an arm around his shoulders and led him across the room. "How 'bout you come with me to wake Professor Haas and we can discuss what happened to your friend a little more, hmm?"

Sirius wriggled himself free from Slughorn's grasp and took a few steps back out of his reach.

"There's nothing to discuss! The Slytherins targeted James and now he's in the Hospital wing. Apparently concussed!" Sirius turned to Madam Pomfrey for more answers. Something was not adding up.

Pomfrey turned completely around to face him, all patience drained from her expression.

"Mr Black." Professor McGonagall stood at the end of the ward, her hands on her hips, her lips pressed into a thin disapproving line. "This is a Hospital Wing, not a circus. If you cannot keep your voice down, you will be forced to leave the premises. Poppy, what's happened here?"

"It's the Potter boy. His parents need to be contacted," Madam Pomfrey answered, once again at work, "and Professor Haas needs to be sent for."

"I'll get Professor Haas," said Slughorn. "He's on my way to the Headmaster's office."

"Come with me, Sirius," McGonagall voice had softened considerably but was still firm. "Madam Pomfrey needs to work."

Sirius sent James one last desperate look then followed McGonagall out.

The Potters had been contacted and were scheduled to arrive by portkey shortly after first period. Sirius's story had been told and defended three consecutive times: First to McGonagall then to Dumbledore, and lastly to Abbott's father who happened to be on the Board of Governors. Sirius found the possibility of Abbott not being expelled because of this fact both redundant and infuriating and was planning on addressing the issue to Dumbledore after James got better.

Sirius and Peter had been locked out of the Hospital Wing and were currently sat against its doors staring blankly down the empty corridor. Occasionally, they'd hear the echoed voices of a class answering in unison, or Professor Haas's carrying voice as he, unnecessarily, interrogated Eilidh about her Calming Draught. Professor Slughorn was already dissecting its remains on the off chance that it had been tampered with.

Eilidh's dorm mates showed up after breakfast offering smuggled toast and bacon. Except for Lily but Sirius didn't ask why. Mostly because he couldn't think of anything agreeable to say about her at the moment.

Mary informed them that James's condition sounded a lot like what happened to her aunt after a car crash, something muggles called a coma. Peter's and Josie's reactions to this news were worrying. They both became rather sombre, in fact, Peter looked a little pale. Marlene, on the other hand, became overly chipper.

"Did Madam Pomfrey say _when_ he was going to wake up?"

"No, she just said that he was fine."

"That's good! Pomfrey's never been wrong before."

They excused themselves rather quickly after that.

Peter and Sirius were told to go to class by multiple professors but neither seemed too inclined to obey the order.

"We'll go to class after his parents get here. That way he has someone there for him in case he wakes up," Peter said decidedly.

" _When_ he wakes up," Sirius said firmly. As long as Madam Pomfrey insisted that James was fine, he refused to believe any different.

"I only meant in case he wakes up while we're in class not… that."

Eilidh showed up looking ghostly pale and on the verge of either vomiting or crying, her eyes glued to the wall behind them.

"What'd he say?" asked Peter.

"Slughorn said the potion was clean, it hadn't been tampered with," she answered quietly.

"It took him that long to figure that out," Sirius scoffed.

"It still could have been what -" she took in a ragged breath and shook her head. "I'm going to change out of these robes. I'll be back."

"I hope he wasn't too hard on her," Peter muttered, sinking back into the wall.

Sirius had the sudden need to pace.

Eilidh didn't return for quite some time but when she did it was with a stack of books at least as tall as she was.

"I've been to the library," she told them unnecessarily, using the wall to balance the books on her knee. "These were all the books I could find on healing magic and brain injuries. Be on the lookout for Madam Wryn, she had murder in her eyes when I last saw her."

"Mary said he's in a coma," Sirius said, accepting the book she handed to him. Eilidh looked shocked for a moment then her books fell with an echoing clatter. She dropped to the floor, hiding her face behind her hair. "She said her aunt had the same symptoms," Sirius pressed.

Eilidh stacked her books one on top of the other loudly, trying to down out his voice. Sirius reached to catch her hands. She stilled instantly, took a deep, calming breath, then spoke in a monotonous voice:

"I'm not sure what happened to Mary's aunt but her brother is actually her cousin. Her parents adopted him a few years back."

"People don't usually make it out of comas," Peter added, ominously.

"When they do it's considered a miracle," Eilidh agreed.

"We're wizards!" Sirius yelled angrily. He tired of people acting like James was already dead, like he was done for. "We have magic! You ever hear of a wizard dying of influenza? It's the same thing!"

Eilidh nodded in agreement, used her wand to pin up her hair, curled up against the wall, and dove into a book. "To be fair muggles don't die from influenza anymore."

Sirius scowled at her before realizing that she was joking.

"We should be discussing what we're going to do to the Slytherins when James wakes up." Sirius flipped through the book she had given him without looking at the pages.

"We could set their dormitory on fire," Peter muttered angrily to the window. "With them inside it."

"We could break the glass separating them from the Black Lake and flood them out," Sirius suggested.

"The squid could eat the survivors," Peter grinned.

"I wonder if he likes the taste of snakes?" Sirius added cruelly.

"You're being disgusting and not any better than them." Eilidh glared at both Sirius and Peter.

Sirius had to laugh. She acting too much like Lily Evans for his taste.

"And what would you suggest, princess?" he mocked. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Wait it out. See what Dumbledore does and go from there."

"And why would we do that?" Sirius demanded.

" _Because_ , Sirius, if we do something now it's going to make Dumbledore less inclined to expel them," she answered testily. "Right now it looks like Death Eaters targeting a blood traitor. If we do something it'll look like the age-old feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin getting out of hand. _Again._ Which will make our punishment more severe and Abbott and his Costellos will still be in school."

Sirius could only stare at her. He was reluctant to admit that she was right but that usually was how things worked out.

"You sure you're not in Slytherin?" Peter asked.

"Fuck off," Eilidh groaned, returning to her book.

"I'm just saying, that was a rather _cunning_ plan," Peter continued.

"My parents are pretty manipulative so I guess I picked up a few things," Eilidh said to her book.

"And what about Lily?" Sirius asked, simply to fulfil his need to argue.

"What about her?" she asked, sounding indifferent but she became noticeably stiff.

"James would be here if it were her," Sirius said defensively.

"She's not James," Eilidh said simply.

"Well, that's obvious," Sirius scoffed.

"You'd think it would be," Eilidh muttered, loudly turning the page.

"She doesn't deserve him," Sirius pressed.

"I'm not going to argue about this with you," she bit back with the look of warning Sirius had learned to take seriously.

"Fine," he sneered and they fell silent, reading the books that would do nothing more than pass the time.

"You can do what you want Albus. Right now I'm going to see my son," came Mrs Potter's strong, clear, and fearful voice, drifting down the corridor. Moments later she rounded the corner with both Professor Dumbledore and Mr Potter at her heels. Sirius abandoned his book and scrambled to his feet.

"Sirius, how are you?" Mrs Potter asked as Professor Dumbledore unlocked the doors to let them in. Mr Potter gave a short smile, his face lined with distress.

"Bit worried, honestly," Sirius admitted. He was happy to see that James looked more alive than he had hours ago though he was still dormant.

"We all are dear," Mrs Potter said sweetly with a hand on his cheek.

"James will be fine," Sirius said firmly for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"Of course he will. He's our James." Mrs Potter said lightly, scurrying forward to James's bedside.

Mr Potter smiled softly while resting a heavy hand on Sirius's shoulder. With the presence of the Potters finally bringing some relief to his rather tense morning, Sirius was able to smile back.

Madam Pomfrey explained James's condition to all of them though she never said the word 'coma.' She also said she expected James to wake up at any moment.

"It's all up to him in the end," she added, glancing at James with an indiscernible expression.

Mr Potter made arrangements for him and his wife at the Three Broomsticks while Mrs Potter settled comfortably in the chair beside James's bed.

Professor Dumbledore explained that nothing could be done until he heard both sides of the story which sounded like utter rubbish but no one said anything.

"I should… get to class," Eilidh said awkwardly, already making her way toward the door.

"I'll let you know when he wakes up," Sirius told her. She nodded then scurried her way out.

"Was that Lily?" Mrs Potter whispered.

"No, that's Eilidh. A friend," Sirius answered.

"Sirius's girlfriend," Peter added, smirking.

"Shut up, Peter," Sirius growled.

Mrs Potter smiled benignly then turned to stroke her son's hair.

"You know he never got sick when he was little. He fell through ice in the dead of winter and only had a small cough the next day." used her free hand to wipe her eyes, then laughed, "he could never sit still! He was such a good boy. Oh, he would hate this!"

Sirius froze. He had reached uncharted territory and had no idea how to react. Peter looked just as frightfully out of place as Sirius felt, he thought of James.

"He'll be fine," he said, resting a hand on Mrs Potter's shoulder in what he hoped to be a comforting manner. "You heard Madam Pomfrey."

"Oh I know," she smiled at him, taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze. "I just hate to think that he's suffering."

Mrs Potter never left James's bedside, she never let go of James's hand, not even when Mr Potter tried to convince her to get some rest at the three broomsticks. It was almost midnight when Sirius and Peter left under strict orders from McGonagall. Eilidh was watching the fire slowly die out in the Common Room when they arrived.

"I couldn't sleep," she explained.

"Nothing's changed," Sirius grumbled.

The three of them sat there silently waiting for the sun to rise.

They ran into Hagrid in the morning, coming out of the Hospital wing carrying a handful of potions in his dustbin lid sized hands.

"All righ', you three?" he greeted with a cheery smile.

"All right, Hagrid? How's Remus?" Sirius returned.

"Oh, he's -"

"Hagrid!" Madam Pomfrey stuck her head through the door, interrupting Hagrid's response. "Where's Albus?"

"Mum!" came James's exasperated voice.

"Is that-?"

"Yes, he's awake. Go in and say hello. Hagrid, do you know where Albus is?" Pomfrey repeated.

The three of them didn't hear where the Headmaster was. They had bustled past the two and burst into the ward. James was being smothered in kisses from his mother.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Jamie!" Mrs Potter hugged his head to her chest.

"Can't...breathe!"

Mrs Potter released him, cupped his face between her soft, plump hands to smile at him for a moment then kissed his forehead.

"I'm going to write your father. Will you be alright here with your friends?"

"Yes, Mum," James answered in a patient voice.

"I'll bring some breakfast with me when I come back."

"Thank you, Mum."

"Alright," Mrs Potter gave James one last loving look. "Morning dears."

"Good Morning," the three of them echoed, watching as she left the hospital.

"Do I have lipstick on my face?" James asked, rubbing his hand against his cheek.

"It's hardly noticeable" Sirius answered, taking the other side of James's bed.

"Besides, you can just tell everyone it's from a girl. That's not your mum," Peter added.

"Do you think anyone would believe that it was, Lily?" James grinned.

"Not a chance," Peter laughed. Sirius bit his tongue. This was an argument that could wait.

"What's eating you?" James asked, peering around Peter. Eilidh was standing by the door, teary-eyed. "I was only joking. I wouldn't actually go around saying I kissed Lily Evans. I'm not that much of a prat."

"I know," She said thickly, rubbing the heel of her palm into her eye. "I'm just glad that you're awake."

James sent a questioning look at Sirius. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"I think this side's a little low on lipstick if you wanted to…," James smirked at her, tapping one of his cheeks with his forefinger. Eilidh chuckled but quickly grew sombre.

"James," she started, " I know you probably want to blame the Slytherins for this-"

"What are you on about?" James asked. "I do blame the Slytherins. I told you what happened."

"Yes but-"

"But nothing, it's their fault," Sirius said, firmly.

"It was the Calming Draught-"

"Who told you that?" Sirius demanded. Eilidh shrugged and looked at the floor. "Whatever. It's a load of rubbish. You were trying to help."

"James-"

"He's right, you know," James told her.

"I'm just sorry," Eilidh said quickly before she could be interrupted again.

"You're not forgiven. Now, get over here and make awful jokes about Snivellus with us," James said bruskly, patting the side of his bed that Sirius was not on Eilidh sighed, shook her head and did as she was told.

"Did you guys remember to do that thing last night? And this morning?" James asked Sirius and Peter.

"There was too much going on," Peter mumbled

"Your mum kind of reminded us, last minute, when she mentioned Remus." Sirius chuckled.

"Do we know how he is?" James asked.

"Hagrid was taking him his potions this morning," Eilidh answered.

"Suppose that's a good sign," James nodded, glancing out the window. "He doesn't know about this yet, does he?"

"Pete and I decided it'd be too much for him at the moment," Sirius said.

"Good. So what are we going to do about our snakey friends?" James grinned mischievously. Eilidh rolled her eyes.

"Sirius and Peter already have a few plans involving fire and the giant squid."

James, Sirius, and Peter laughed.

"Maybe we could combine the two," James suggested.

"Brilliant," Sirius beamed.

* * *

 ********Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or any other form of a medical professional. I took a semester of Anatomy maybe four years ago and I got a C so yeah. Lucky for me magic is the ultimate loophole.**

 **Bromance dude. Platonic love should be celebrated more.**

 **Thanks for reading, reviewing, favouriting, and following.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	54. Listen to the Music

*****Warning: Drinking and magical drug use. If this is a problem for you, let me know and I'll update you on all important plot events.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT condone anything any character may or may not do. This is not me saying that these things are cool. Please be responsible and rational and don't let a fanfiction lead you down the wrong path. Stay safe, be smart.**

 **Review since its been awhile: James got into a fight, with Snape and a few other Slytherins, that he lost. He ended up in the hospital in what many non-healers assumed to be a coma. Oh, and of course Lily took Snape's side because you gotta stick with your bestie, ya know? Enjoy. :D*****

* * *

Chapter 28 of year 4: Listen to the Music

There were a few small changes in James that no one felt the need to point out. For instance, he was now either very sensitive to noises or incredibly jumpy. Whatever the reason, the boys were careful to not make any sudden unexpected noise by setting down their books on their bedside tables instead of tossing them to the side without care of where they landed.

They hadn't noticed it at first, because on the surface James was still the bright, cheerful, talkative, boy they had come to love but, he was also a bit quieter than usual. They noticed it that night, alone in their dormitory, Peter and Sirius were tossing a quaffle (that had mysteriously appeared in their mess), across the room to see who could make it bounce off the most strewn items and still make it into the bin. Their conversation meant nothing but it had an air of meaning everything. It was the kind of conversation James could easily integrate himself into but he hadn't. He had muttered a few yeahs and gave the occasional grunt of laughter but then slid easily into the background, completely unnoticed. Until it wasn't.

James was their rock, the glue that held their friendship together, so when conversations fell apart, he was there to pull it back because he meant everything. He was not supposed to place himself across the room, his head resting against his fourposter, his face void of emotion, his eyes forlorn and angry - that was Sirius's thing. James didn't get to curl himself into a ball, his hands tucked under his knees, looking small and fragile - that was Remus's thing.

So Peter did his thing. He crossed the room and sat next to him, quiet and present. James looked up, his face twitched into an almost smile. Sirius felt incredibly distant like he was watching them from the opposite end of a very long tunnel.

"I don't know what to do." James's voice came clear and easy, just like his yeahs.

"You don't have to do anything," Peter said, simply, like this was the answer to everything. James breathed loudly out of his nose, not turning to look at either of them.

"Do about what?" Sirius said finally. James looked up, his eyes searching, then, finally, he unfolded himself. He looked so much more like James now, untouchable and ever-present.

"If we wait, we look weak. If we don't then they stay," James said.

Sirius nodded his agreement. James had a frequent talent for putting his feelings into words, sometimes even before he recognised the feeling himself.

"It doesn't matter now. Remus gets out tomorrow, we'll talk about it then." James said decidedly. Sirius didn't think there was anything to talk about. Expelled or not, they simply could not appear to be afraid of them. They couldn't hide in Hogwarts forever.

"Why don't we sneak down to the kitchen? See if they have any leftover pudding?" Peter suggested, eager to change the conversation.

"I'm hungry anyway," James mumbled, grabbing his cloak.

Sirius was simply happy for the excuse to get out of the dormitory; it seemed like a rather small room all of the sudden. What was more, the house elves would know more about what the staff was planning on doing about all this. As Andy always said, 'the elves always know.'

They did not, however, make their way to the kitchen upon exiting their dormitory. They were too distracted by a loud noise issuing from a nearby room. They could feel the beat of the music underfoot as they approached. They almost collided with Adrian Longbottom as he was pushed out of the room wearing only pants and socks, one on his foot, the other on his hand.

"I got two! Three!" he shouted, grabbing the boys in turn by their shirt sleeves and throwing them into the cheering crowd.

"That was fast," someone muttered.

"What's going on?" James shouted at Adrian.

"A party!" Adrian shouted back, accepting a blue drink from an odd looking, bespeckled, Hufflepuff boy, fifth year. "What's this one do?" he asked the kid.

"It's a hallucinogenic. It has a small dose of Alihotsy," the Hufflepuff answered.

"And what does that mean in drunk and stupid?" Adrian asked. The Hufflepuff rolled his eyes and attempted to share a look with them.

"It'll take you to another planet," he answered.

"Aces," Adrian said then chugged the liquid down.

"Zack Seligmann," the Hufflepuff held out his hand to greet the three of them. Peter took it, probably because the moment was getting too awkward with Sirius and James staring at it like it carried dragon pox. Adrian fell, face first, into a beanbag chair. "What can I get for you gents?"

"Absolutely nothing," James said. There was an unspoken agreement between him and Sirius that this bloke was not to be trusted. What Sirius wondered was, who actually trusted him?

"Where's the host?" Sirius asked. Zack Seligmann shrugged then point toward the clearing in the centre of the room.

"Pevensie invited me. Said he and his mates were throwing a party and wanted to take things up a notch. I'd take you over there but, er, duty calls." Seligmann smirked and nodded toward a gang of giggling girls in the corner. "Ladies!"

"Interesting," James said, watching Seligmann for a moment then blinked and turned toward the clearing. "Pevensie! What happened to my invitation?"

"Mate, you don't need an invitation," Pevensie smirked, waving a dramatic hand around the room, the girl in his lap almost toppled over. She shrieked and giggled as Gabe helped her straighten. "You're welcome anytime."

It was a strange group. Normally, Gabe surrounded himself with Gryffindors like his dorm mates and the Quidditch team, his girlfriend, and maybe a few Hufflepuffs. However, it seemed like Gabe had friends from everywhere. Persephone Machault from Slytherin was dancing with Mary Macdonald and a kid from Ravenclaw. Alice and Frank were very open about their relationship which seemed to be making another Ravenclaw very uncomfortable. Even Eilidh was there, sitting on a bed with Gabe's dorm mate Adam, laughing while he… read her palm? Sirius didn't really know how he felt about it. He did feel a little nauseous but that could have been from the heat of the room. She was just sitting there, on a bed, while some bloke held her hand and she laughed her arse off like whatever he had to say was the funniest thing in the world. And suddenly he was striding forward, feeling very purposeful but he had no idea what he was planning on doing.

"Oh, hey," she grinned when she saw him. "Did you know that Adam can read palms?"

"Can he?" Sirius glared at Adam until he chucked awkwardly and let go of her hand.

"Yup. He said I have an excellent heart line." Eilidh turned to grin at Adam.

"Your heart must be in outstanding condition. How 'bout I fix you two up with some drinks, huh?" Adam stood and clapped his hands together. "Any requests?"

"Surprise me," Eilidh smiled. Adam nodded and made a show of turning toward Sirius.

"I'm good," he said, giving a wry smile.

"Mate, relax. It's a party. Drink something. Disconnect from life for a bit," Adam told him, reaching to tousle his hair.

Sirius dodged him. "I'm good," he repeated, all pleasantries in his previous attitude out the window.

"Okay," Adam drawled, awkwardly, and sauntered away.

Eilidh looked at Sirius curiously. Sirius tried to look like he wasn't angry. He didn't think he should be angry. They were just talking. They could have been friends for he all he knew.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned, almost panicked sort of way. "Did something happen?"

"Nah," Sirius shrugged, taking Adam's seat.

"James is alright?" she asked.

"He's… fine. Bit upset but -" Sirius was interrupted by a loud whooping from James. What he was cheering for was disrupted from the crowd but he looked happy which was nice to see given all the stress recently. "Nevermind."

"So, James is fine. You're fine. What is it then?" she asked.

"Nothing," he shrugged then looked down at her hand. "I mean, you might want to watch out for those seventh years. They're… you know, experienced."

"Experienced?" she said, bewildered, then she laughed. "Adam is Marlene's brother!"

"Adam McK- I feel like I should have known that," Sirius said, feeling especially foolish now.

"Yeah, well, now you do," she laughed.

"Still, he wouldn't have pointed out your outstanding heart line for nothing," Sirius said, feeling a little defensive.

"I-" Eilidh started to argued but sighed heavily instead and jumped to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked quickly.

"To talk to someone who doesn't frustrate the hell out of me. I don't want to fight tonight, Sirius," she hissed, her words barely audible over the music.

"Well, you seemed to be having a great time with Adam McKinnon. It might be difficult to talk to him at the moment as his mouth is preoccupied," Sirius snarled, gesturing towards Adam snogging some unidentifiable girl in the corner of the room.

"That's okay. Evan Holland asked me to the ball a few weeks ago and I think I saw him here so -"

Sirius caught her just before she fell out of reach and spun her around.

"You know we're going to that together," he said, obviously. She was playing games with him and he didn't have the temperament for it.

"No, I didn't know that," she snarled, ripping her arm from his grasp. "How the fuck would I know that?"

"Because I - it's kind of obvious considering…." Sirius trailed off, unable to put his thoughts into words with the music pounding in his ears and the people rushing around him and Eilidh glaring at him.

"Considering what?" she challenged. Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward the bed where it less crowded.

"Considering I asked you out," he said, sternly.

"You asked me to Hogsmeade, which is completely different by the way, and then you act like nothing's changed. We're still just friends. We were even at Slughorn's party at the same time and you didn't speak to me all evening. But you danced with Lily, which is way more than you reading her palm! And then, you take James to the Hospital and you don't even tell me! I woke up to an empty room, a mattress completely gone, and then Peter comes running up barely able to speak. All he says is Hospital, over and over - do you know how scared I was?"

"Hang on, what exactly are you angry about?" Sirius's head was spinning trying to keep up with her. These were all very separate events for him, some of them he couldn't even remember precisely. Eilidh closed her eyes, took a deep breath, bit her lip, and then smiled at him.

"Nothing," she said.

"Ok, great, fantastic. I do want to go to that stupid ball with you. In fact, if it weren't for you I wouldn't even consider going to the stupid ball. Second, I didn't talk to you because I was drunk, I was with my family and no one wants to be dragged into that mess. I danced with Lily because, I don't remember why it had something to do with Lestrange. And you cannot fucking blame me for taking James to the Hospital. He was not waking up! I panicked. Then I got stuck with McGonagall and Dumbledore." Sirius stopped there, realising he was beginning to yell. Eilidh looked significantly calmer.

"Just yell my name the next time there's an emergency like that, okay," she said, looking a little sheepish. "And, God, if you think your family's a mess," she laughed.

"You remember meeting Andy, right?" he chuckled. At the reminder, her face fell and she tried to cover it up by tucking her hair behind her ear.

"At least your mum doesn't have any secret bastard children," she smirked.

"Oh, that would explain so much about me, though," Sirius laughed.

"King James!" James hollered, swinging on one of the four poster bedposts while a small crowd cheered. Great. He was drunk. It was probably not the best thing James could do in light of recent events. Eilidh shook her head and chuckled at him so it couldn't be too bad.

"We are going to that ball together, right?" Sirius asked, for the clarification that she obviously needed. Eilidh froze mid-laugh and looked up at him.

"I-I can't dance," she said.

"You can't -" someone stumbled past and pushed her into him. "Everyone can dance," he said, helping her regain her balance. She shook her head frantically.

"Look at those fuckers! It's so awkward it's adorable," James crooned, still hanging from the bedpost. Every head turned in their direction. Eilidh's fingers dug into his arm painfully.

"Aw, did Black get himself a girlfriend?" Pevensie cooed.

"They're practically married," James said.

"That's adorable," Gabe said, staggering ominously to his feet. "But you know what -"

"Eilidh, didn't we have to -" Sirius started, looking to her for assistance.

"Yes, absolutely!" Eilidh smiled and started for the door. Gabe caught them both by the back of their shirts.

"I think little Sirius needs some help in the romance department," Gabe smirked. The crowd cheered. And with little time to stop it, they were being roughly corralled into the wardrobe. The door slammed painfully against Sirius's outstretched hand.

They looked at each other by the sliver of light spilling in through the crack between the doors. Butterflies were nothing - they were child's play compared to this.

"At least they can't see us in here," Sirius smiled, attempting to ease his own tension as well as hers. Eilidh sucked in a deep breath and looked away.

"Lily is going to find out about this. She is going to be so pissed that I didn't tell her," she said.

"You haven't told her?" Sirius asked, incredulously. They had agreed to tell James and Lily separately, while things were good, which meant they had to do it as soon as possible. He was under the impression that that little piece of drama was already taken care of.

"Did you lock them in the closet?" Creswell giggled.

"We're helping," Gabe argued. "Right, Sirius?"

"Let us out," Sirius ordered, "or I'll help you right into an early grave!"

"I was nervous. I want her to like you," Eilidh whispered over Gabe's booming laugh. She still avoided his eye as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"We'll let you out when you two kiss!" James shouted.

"I am going to kill him," Eilidh muttered, a subtle blush tinting her cheeks, as the crowd started chanting for them to kiss. Sirius turned away, trying to hide his smirk as he didn't think it would help lift her mood at the moment.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Sirius is a gentleman. He needs to get married first," Gabe said. The crowd cheered in agreement.

"What an arse," Eilidh grumbled, leaning against the back of the wardrobe.

"He's better when he's sober," Sirius muttered though he couldn't help but agree. If Gabe was truly trying to help, he could have picked a more romantic setting than a wardrobe riddled with mothballs and stuffy coats.

"Cresswell, take it away," Gabe announced. Cresswell giggled, fell into the wardrobe, jostling them a bit, and cleared his throat.

"Dearly beloved, we'd be gathered here today on this day of holy matrimony. Because they're getting married in the closet."

"Skip to the end!" Sirius demanded.

"Do you - who's in there again?" Cresswell asked.

"I do! She does! We all do! Say I now pronounce you husband and wife," Sirius prompted.

"I, by the power vested in me by the Gryffindor Quidditch team Captain, that's me…. What was I saying?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Sirius grumbled. He attempted to kick the door open but Cresswell was laying on it. Eilidh sighed heavily.

"James!" she yelled. "How are you supposed to know if we kissed or not? We could just lie."

"You wouldn't do that Nicnevin. You're too good," James said.

"I would," Sirius argued.

"Oh, shit, yeah," James mumbled. "We let them out so they can kiss!"

As the crowd cheered, Eilidh took out her wand and pointed it at the door, prepared to hex the first person she saw.

"Eilidh they're our friends," Sirius reminded.

"Right now they're a bunch of drunken arseholes who locked us in a closet," she said through clenched teeth. Sirius was about to argue more but the door opened with only enough time for him to fling himself in front of her and push the first person he could get his hands on out of the way. He reached back to grab her hand and pulled her out into the hall.

"See. No need for magic," he smirked.

"You left James," Eilidh said, looking incredibly annoyed.

"Right." Sirius peaked his head back into the room, spotted James, and pulled him out.

"Hey!" James protested as he found his balance again. "I thought you wanted me to lighten up. I don't have to do anything, remember?"

"That wasn't me. Speaking of, where's Peter?" Sirius asked.

"That prat left. Said he was going to vomit," James said, trying to head back to the party.

"James," Eilidh said, gently placing her hand on his chest, "Peter needs you."

James blinked at her, looking confused for a second. "Okay." He slung an arm around her shoulder and lead her down the hall. "You should have kissed him," he whispered, loudly.

"Next time," Eilidh smiled. "Right now, we need to take you and Peter to see Madam Pomfrey again. Isn't that fun?"

"Why?" James pouted.

"Because if Peter's vomiting that means he drank too much. Or worse," Eilidh added under her breath.

"And you've been drinking who knows what right after you've had a brain injury," Sirius added.

"Z-man said it was good for the brain," James argued. "Said it spurts the energy."

"And how do you feel now?" Sirius asked.

"I want to take a nap," James said, starting to lay down right there on the floor taking Eilidh with him. "I'm gonna take a nap right here."

"Okay," Eilidh grumbled, working herself out from under his arms. "We need to see Pomfrey first."

"Nope. I'm not going out there. Slytherins everywhere with their wands and their magic." James rambled.

"Mate, you could have kicked all of their arses. You just needed a second to plant your feet," Sirius said.

"I didn't know any of it. I was useless. I could have died. I couldn't do anything," James breathed, staring unseeingly at the opposite wall, curled up on the ground looking very small and helpless indeed.

"We wouldn't have let you die, James," Eilidh whispered, combing his hair out of his eyes. James breathed heavily and sniffled.

"If you hadn't have come, I would have died," James said.

"Nah, man, you had it, I saw, I just wanted in on the action," Sirius said, hoping he sounded reassuring but in all honesty, James was scaring him. He had never seen anyone act like this, much less someone like James.

James sighed heavily and closed his eyes, a small tear falling out and running along the edge of his nose. "You two have to stop being weird so we can all stay friends."

"We're always going to be friends, you prat," Eilidh said, attempting to make him laugh. It didn't work.

"Alright, James, if we do this, you have to go to Pomfrey without complaining," Sirius said, kneeling on the floor in front of them. James sniffled and partially sat up.

"Do what?" he asked. Sirius sighed because this wasn't the way he wanted to do things. He was supposed to take her on a date first. It should have been a romantic setting. But then there she was.

He wanted to kiss her. Sirius had only once wanted - no, not wanted but longed to kiss anyone and it had been her then too. This time they were kneeling on the uncomfortably hard floor, comforting his best friend who was scared out of his wits for his life. Other than that it was exactly the same. Staring into her eyes. Her brown, dark, so very deep eyes. They seemed endless now and alive in the light of the candle's flame. He could hear his own heart beating. His throat was constricting. His stomach was in knots. Her eyes looked just as excited and bright as they had when she had whispered, kiss me. But this time he did it.

He was planning on just a gentle and quick peck but he lingered, drawn in by that floral scent she always wore. All of the sudden he was wondering why he had ever questioned this, why had they ever been anything other than what they were right there in that moment, with his knee digging into the hardwood floor, his hand cramping to keep his balance, and her hair tickling his cheek. She whimpered softly. It was a sound he couldn't get out of his head.

James laughed, it was a low and breathy chuckle but it was still a laugh. He smiled at Sirius, a rare genuine smile, and nodded in approval.

"We going to Pomfrey's now?" Eilidh asked, the threat of a smile on her lips.

"Yeah," James said, reaching into his pocket. "I've got my cloak."

"I don't think King James needs to hide under an Invisibility Cloak," Eilidh said. James made an odd breathy laugh, almost like he was embarrassed, then smiled proudly.

"Right," James said, tucking the cloak back in his pocket and using the wall to get to his feet. "James Potter doesn't need that cloak. Not with his friends by his side."

"You, my friend, are the worst kind of drunk," Sirius said, pulling James's arm over his shoulder, just in case.

"I'm not drunk. I'm high. On a potion made by a weird kid. Hey, we should remember him when we throw our parties," James said, leading the way down the stairs. "Z-man."

"Seligmann. And let's try not to take potions made by random beady-eyed blokes," Sirius said, cringing a little at how much he sounded like Remus.

"He won't be random if we got to know him," Eilidh said, unhelpfully.

"Exactly. We need backup for your b - " James broke off to blink at something ahead of them. "Peter?"

"I hate firewhiskey," Peter groaned, shifting slightly from where he was curled up on the stairs. "I hate parties. Why do people do this? I don't feel good James."

"Did you throw up yet?" James asked, jumping into action. He climbed over Peter so he could sit in front of him and waved his finger so Peter would follow it around.

"No," Peter moaned, knocking James's hand away.

"Come on, Pete, we'll take you someplace to make you feel better," Eilidh said, taking hold of his arm and gesturing for James to do the same.

"No," Peter wriggled himself free of their grasps. "I want to stay here. I want to sleep. I want pizza. And breakfast. Pizza breakfast."

"Then we'll take you to the kitchen," Sirius said, nudging Eilidh to the side so he could take her place. "I'm sure the house elves will be happy to make you pizza breakfast."

"With scrambled eggs and bacon? Oh, and those things the French make with the -" Peter waved his hand around in a circle making whooshing noises. "Those look so good!" he chuckled.

"Mate, we can get you whatever you want, just walk," James said, struggling to adjust Peter's arm around his shoulder.

"James, please be careful. I don't want you hitting your head," Eilidh said.

"I'm not gonna -" James stumbled on the last step and used the wall to break his fall, thankfully not hitting his head.

Peter pulled himself away from both of them, slapped both of them in the chest, and smiled smugly. "I got this." He took two steps forward and tripped on thin air, falling over the back of the couch.

"You're an absolute mess, Pete," Sirius laughed. "Eilidh you take James, I'll take this shit show."

"I'm not a sh… I'm about to be a barf show," Peter laughed, looking a little dizzy as Sirius struggled to hold him upright.

"How much did you drink?" Sirius demanded.

"Two of those things you're supposed to drink really fast," Peter said, holding his fingers up so he could see the size of the glass. "It burned. It didn't taste like anything it just burned."

"Reckon that's why they call it firewhiskey," Sirius said.

"You reckon?" Peter asked like the idea had just come to him.

"They weren't drinking firewhiskey," Eilidh said.

"They weren't?" James said, shocked. Eilidh shook her head.

"Peter, what colour was the drink?" she asked.

"White. No, clear like water. But it didn't taste like water. It tasted like fire," Peter grimace.

"You're supposed to sip Daisyroot Draught and you're definitely not supposed to have two of them," Sirius said, amazed that Peter was still standing. He shuffled forward, needing to get to the hospital wing before Peter passed out.

"But it came in those little glasses," Peter argued, holding his fingers up again.

James hesitated at the portrait hole. Paranoia seemed to have taken hold of him as he glanced both ways before stepping out.

"James, do you know any songs?" Eilidh asked. James only blinked at her. "Songs. I want to hear you sing."

"I don't know any songs," James scoffed.

"What about the one they were just playing?" Eilidh pressed.

"That was a muggle song," James told her.

"But it was a good one and it reminded me of you," she said. "How did it go again? Come out Virginia don't let 'em wait," Eilidh started to sing. Peter laughed and joined in. James smirked at them.

"Sirius, you know this song," James said.

"I don't sing Ja-"

"Only the good die young!" Peter yelled in his ear.

"Alright!" Sirius growled then, despite his better judgment, joined in. Eventually, James joined in too, catching on to the chorus that they sang way too many times to actually be the song anymore, until they burst into the Hospital wing, claiming death at an old age, and startled Remus awake which jostled his tray of barely touched dinner.

"What happened to you lot?" Remus laughed after seeing that they were all generally okay.

"I drank-" Peter started but Sirius shushed him. Peter mocked him with a finger to his lips.

"We were having childish innocent fun, stealing leftover pudding, when the house elves poisoned us," Sirius said.

"With Daisyroot," Peter sniggered.

"We went to a Pevensie party," James whispered loudly, swooping down onto Remus's bed. "I didn't know he had them at school. Don't know how he gets away with it."

"Probably only invites people who know better than to talk about it in front of the school nurse," Eilidh said, pulling James to his feet again. "How are you, Remus?"

"Oh, I'm fine," he said. "Always a fun night when I get to rip out my own gullet." Remus chuckled at his joke but, when he saw Eilidh's face he quickly sobered. "It's just an expression. I had a sore throat."

"Right," Eilidh said.

"Where's Pomfrey?" Sirius asked quickly before Remus could make another unbelievable excuse.

"Staff meeting. You just missed her," he answered, glad of the distraction. Sirius groaned. He pulled Peter and James toward the cabinet he saw Pomfrey working out of when James was in here, hoping that the potion he needed was there and clearly marked.

"Why don't you stay here and tell him?" Sirius told Eilidh to stop her from following. "I don't know why you insist on keeping secrets."

"I'm not keeping secrets," Eilidh hissed as he walked away.

Sirius settled James and Peter onto a bed. They rested their heads together and started drifting off to sleep.

"Hey! Stay awake!" Sirius said, snapping his fingers.

"We are awake," Peter whined, pushing his hand away.

"Come on. If you fall asleep you won't get crepes," Sirius told him.

"Crepes!" Peter said, his eyes popping open startling James awake.

"Who has whipped cream for breakfast?" James scoffed.

"Awesome people," Peter whispered.

"It's no different than cinnamon rolls," Sirius argued, knowing that James had cinnamon rolls for breakfast every Christmas morning. He shifted through Pomfrey's potions, keeping an ear on the now bickering James and Peter. He never knew anyone to have such passionate opinions about food.

Sirius found what he was looking for on the top shelf in the far left corner. It was easy enough for a grown woman to reach but for a fourth year who had yet to have his growth spurt, it was a little difficult. He had just found a stool to stand on when he heard Pomfrey's voice.

"Remus!" she said, disapprovingly.

"It helps," Remus said, his voice sounding muffled. Sirius grabbed the potions, jumped down from the stool, and peered around the curtain that luckily happened to be covering them from view. Remus was in an uncomfortable position with his face pointing toward the mattress, his butt in the air, and one of his legs folded under his chest.

Peter had his finger to his lips again, sniggering nervously with James.

"Drink this, quickly," Sirius murmured, shoving the opened phials into their hands. As James and Peter drank, Sirius pulled the cloak from James's pocket and attempted to throw it over all of them as quietly as possible. Sirius stuffed the empty phials under the bed's pillow as James and Peter stood. They adjusted the cloak so it covered all of their feet and shuffled forward.

"You really need to get to bed now. It's after curfew," Pomfrey was telling Eilidh.

"Oh, is Remus going to be out tomorrow?" Eilidh asked, buying time. Unfortunately, there was no way to sneak between Pomfrey and the cart she was wheeling and remain unnoticed.

"We'll have to see how he is in the morning," Pomfrey said sternly.

"Remus, what do you think?" Eilidh asked.

"I should be fine, Eilidh, I feel pretty good," Remus said.

"Okay, erm, well don't forget to do those stretches every day. They'll really help with your joints and your blood flow and your breathing. My aunts own magic solution. Every time I complain about an ache she always asks if I did my stretches," Eilidh laughed nervously.

"I'll be sure to remember," Remus promised, waving a hand and pointing casually to where they were under the Invisibility Cloak. It was a risk but Sirius stuck the tip of his toe out from under the cloak so Eilidh would know they were in the clear.

"Good. I'll see you in the morning. Good night. Sleep well," Eilidh said backing so slowly out she was able to keep the door slightly ajar without Pomfrey noticing.

Madam Pomfrey sighed moodily and clear Remus's tray away.

"You're quite popular," she said conversationally.

"Not really, my friends are just pests," Remus smirked. Pomfrey hummed a noncommittal agreement.

"You sure you're feeling alright?" she asked, adjusting Remus's pillows.

"I feel great actually. Those stretches actually helped my back," Remus told her. "And my headache."

"I want you to be careful with those. We don't know how much your body can take," Pomfrey warned.

"I will be," Remus promised. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

"Good night then. If you need anything, don't be afraid to wake me," she said.

"Thank you. Good night," Remus said, settling convincingly into his pillows. They waited until the door to Pomfrey's office shut and clicked as the locks slid into place before taking off the cloak.

"Oh, my head," Peter groaned, holding his head in his hands. James patted his shoulder sympathetically but looked completely fine.

"She knows, doesn't she," Remus whispered, staring at the hospital's doors.

"She's a Nicnevin, mate. She probably knew before she met you," Sirius answered. "Did she not tell you?"

"Is that what you meant?" Remus asked him. "She didn't tell me. I don't think it was a secret thing though."

"Right. Sure it wasn't," Sirius said. Eilidh didn't tell Lily about him. She didn't tell Remus that she knew. Sirius didn't understand the reason for all the secrecy around her friends.

"You're not going to involve her in your plan right?" Remus asked all three of them.

"What plan?" James asked.

"The plan. The-" Remus checked that the office door was still tightly shut then whispered, "the animagus plan."

"No. Don't be ridiculous," James laughed. Remus relaxed. "You really should get some sleep," James told him, ushering Sirius and Peter to the door. "Hey did you actually rip your gulet out?"

Remus gave a small sheepish smile in response. "It was just a sore throat."

"Right," James scoffed. "Good night. If you're not well enough tomorrow, we'll visit you." James sounded almost threatening like he was daring Remus to even try to get out of bed. James stared him down until he nodded then he pushed Sirius and Peter out the doors and shut them tightly behind him.

Eilidh was leaning against the wall, biting off her fingernails, looking concerned and a little angry.

"Did he say animag-"

"Stupefy!" James whispered, shooting the spell at Eilidh. Sirius dove forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"What the hell?" Sirius hissed.

"She can't know. I can only be the four of us," James said.

"Yeah, well, she knows!" Sirius whispered.

"Not if we obliviate her," James said. Sirius stared at him incredulously. "I'll do it so you don't have to."

"You don't know how to do it! And I'm the best at charms," Sirius argued, attempting to guard Eilidh with his shoulder.

"Do you really want to obliviate your girlfriend?" James asked, already knowing the answer.

"I don't want anyone to obliviate her. What has gotten into you?" Sirius breathed.

"We have no choice," James argued.

"Yes, we have, of course, we have!" Sirius said, his voice carrying.

"What choice? If she knows she'll either want to join us, which will put her right next to a transformed werewolf, or she'll just know. She's friends with Lily, who's friends with Snape. Do you really want this spreading? It's not worth the risk," James said.

"What risk?" Sirius challenged.

"Azkaban, Sirius, a one-way ticket to literal hell," James hissed. Sirius could already feel himself being swayed. He had unconsciously moved his guard over Eilidh. "We have no choice, mate."

Sirius, feeling disgusted with himself, incredibly guilty, and angry at this new side to James, nodded, because he could find no real reason to disagree.

"You'll have to hold her down. She has to be awake for this," James said which only made Sirius sicker. Peter twisted his hands together violently. Sirius found it difficult to meet his eye as he held Eilidh's arms down. "Ready?" James said, looking nervous but determined. "One. Two. Renovate."

Eilidh jolted awake as if from a bad dream, blinked at them for a second, then realisation hit.

"What the fuck!" she screamed, ripping her arms away from Sirius. He gripped tighter fearing that he was hurting her. "Potter get the fuck off of me!" she ordered as James loomed over her out of danger of her kicking feet. "What are you -?"

"Obliviate," James said, speaking sure and clear. Eilidh still fought against Sirius's hold on her but she was unable to speak and unable to break eye contact with James's twisting wand. He seemed to be pulling the memories out of her, the longer he twisted the more subdued she became until her fight halted, her breath came soft and slow, and her glare became a dreamy gaze. James pulled her to her feet. Sirius lurched forward to push him off.

He held her by the waist close to him, let her hold his hand in a death grip. She laughed nervously as she turned to look at him.

"Oh, hey," she smiled. "What are you doing?"

"I'm… walking you to your dormitory," Sirius answered, the lie gnawing at his stomach.

"That's impossible," Eilidh laughed.

"Not to mention a terrible idea," Sirius agreed, smiling what he hoped was an easy humour filled smile.

"Lily," she gasped. "Do you think she knows yet? Persephone probably told her. That snake."

"Persephone left early," Sirius lied without even thinking about it. It was amazing how easy it was. He found her behaviour harrowing. People's initial daze usually didn't last this long. James might have muddled it up a bit and this was her mind trying to fill the gaps.

"Oh, good. She won't know until morning," Eilidh said.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. Why?" she said.

"You… just looked a little dizzy is all," Sirius said.

"Oh. Probably second-hand drunkenness. How are you Peter?" she asked, peering around Sirius to look at Peter.

"I- I'm erm, fine, Eilidh. I'm fine," Peter panted, his mouth twitching in an attempt to smile.

"He's a bit hungover," James said. Sirius gritted his teeth and glared the empty corridor ahead of him.

"Oh," Eilidh cooed. "You'll feel better in the morning. After you eat."

"I don't think I can eat anything," Peter mumbled, having to look away from her.

"Sleep will help, Petey, you'll see," Eilidh promised.

"Speaking of, how about we get you to bed?" Sirius said. Eilidh wined and grimace.

"I don't want to see Lily; we're going to fight again," she said.

"Maybe you should stay with us tonight. I've never seen anyone react like that," James said.

"No, really!" Sirius snarled.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Eilidh mumbled, breaking free of Sirius's arms. "You're always so grumpy and intense, just relax. We had a party. Peter got shit faced. James got weird. I flirted with someone. It's fine."

"It's fine?" Sirius challenged, not liking the reminder of Adam McKinnon but it paled in comparison to the current situation. "We're standing in front of the hospital wing."

"It was just a precaution. You're going to make James freak out again," she said, sounding more like herself now. Sirius couldn't care less if James freaked out again, not after what he just pulled, but he calmed himself all the same.

"We'll all feel better with some sleep," Sirius said, reaching for her hand. She looked at him suspiciously but took his hand anyway.

"I can't stay in your dormitory again. I'll be known as the school slag," Eilidh said.

"Alice then," Sirius said.

"Alice?" Eilidh questioned.

"She's a prefect. She was at Pevensie's party. She's Marlene's friend. You'll be safe with Alice," Sirius said.

"I guess," she shrugged.

"I wonder how Remus is doing," James said, casually but loudly to be sure that Eilidh heard. Sirius glared at him.

"Didn't we just…" Eilidh trailed off, staring bewildered at the wall she had been leaning against.

"Yeah we saw him, I mean you stood guard so you didn't see him, but he said something about his gullet that was worrying," James said. Eilidh cocked her head to the side and blinked like she was trying to decode a secret message on the wall, then shook her head.

"I'm sure he's fine. Madam Pomfrey's got him and if she can bring you back from the dead she can do anything," she said, starting for the dormitory. Sirius fell behind and held James back, waiting until Peter was ahead of them.

"Stop fucking with her head," Sirius snarled.

"Mate she's fine," James said, pushing Sirius's hand away. "She's still the same old, constantly pissed off at you, Eilidh Nicnevin that we hate to love."

Sirius pushed him against the wall and stepped back, surprised by his own action.

"She trusted you. She trusted us. I can't believe I let you do this," Sirius said.

"She's better off not knowing. You saw the look on her face when she did know, look at her now. She's fine," James argued. "And she still trusts us."

"We don't deserve it," Sirius said.

"So, earn it back, you posh twit," James said, smirking a little.

"Great idea, I'll go tell her," Sirius said, resisting the urge to punch the smirk off his face.

"She can't know, Sirius," James protested, reaching out to touch him.

"Fuck off," Sirius said, loudly.

"Are you two fighting again!" Eilidh called, coming to a stop.

"Eilidh, I'll walk you to your dormitory. Let them kill each other if they want," Peter said, somewhat bitterly. Eilidh looked back at them. Sirius didn't know what his expression told her but whatever it was, she let Peter lead her away.

"It's us four with her on the side, Sirius. She's not a part of this," James argued.

"What if it was Lily?" Sirius growled. "What if it was Lily standing outside that door instead of Eilidh? Would you have held her down while I obliviated her? She was terrified, James! The funny thing is is that Eilidh actually likes you and Lily doesn't. Lily can't stand you."

James flared at his comment and gripped his still drawn wand tighter. He breathed to calm himself but the grip on his wand didn't slacken.

It was funny in the least humorous way possible that most of the time Eilidh seemed to prefer James over Sirius and yet he was the one defending her. It was funny that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't fight James. It hilarious that the one time he actually wanted to say I'm sorry to someone, he couldn't do it. The humour of the situation caused bile to rise in Sirius's throat.

"I didn't want to do that to Eilidh but, it's safer this way, for all of us. Eilidh included," James said. Sirius slumped, still angry but defeated. It was safer if Eilidh didn't know. It would keep her out of Azkaban. It provided a certainty for his friends. "It's the four of us, mate. You and I we're… we're friends till the end. Eilidh, I don't know, I feel like she's gonna disappear someday."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius demanded.

"She -she's wild. I feel like she's gonna pack up one day and move to Guam or something without telling anyone," James shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She's not going anywhere," Sirius said, certainly. Family meant something to her. That's been clear since day one. "She wouldn't leave us - she wouldn't leave her family behind. Stop being a prat. And you're not going to use magic on her again!"

James held up his hands in an indication of peace.

"It's wasn't planned, mate," James said.

"Promise me," Sirius implored angrily.

"What if-"

"Promise me!" Sirius yelled.

"Alright!" James said, flaring up again. "I promise I won't use magic on her. We'll have to do things the hard way. Are we done? Can we be friends now without you letting some girl come between us?"

"I'm not letting- I thought you wanted Eilidh and I to be together? I thought it made sure all five of us would stay friends," Sirius argued. He would have argued further with some choice insults but he didn't; there was something different in James's eye. Something more than fear and anger.

"Mate, I want you to be with her because she seems to make you happy. And yeah, I like being friends with her but not if it means we're going to be fighting like this. We're not supposed to fight each other. We're supposed to fight them. Us against the world. One for all and all for one. Remember?" James said and Sirius had the awful thought that James was trying to manipulate him.

"Yeah. Alright," Sirius said because that was all he could think to say. James looked relieved as he clapped a hand on Sirius's back and sauntered forward. That was desperation in James's eye. A scared, angry, and desperate James had obliviated Eilidh in a snap decision to keep her quiet. That was his impulse now. He wondered what else this new James was capable of.

* * *

 *****Don't you just love when a fanfic author disappears for months? It's so frustrating, right? (Yes, you should take that as my apology for I am truly and deeply sorry. I've moved. I've had school stuff to take care of. Life is a bitch. etc.)**

 **Thank you to Snuffle's Bitch for taking such a strong interest in my story. I this chapter made the wait worth it.**

 **All rights reserved to the proper owners. Check out the Doobie Brothers for the chapter title.**

 **Thanks for reading. Hoped you liked it.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	55. Riders On The Storm

**Riders On The Storm**

It snowed. It started as small drifting flakes that melted as soon as they hit the window. Hours past and the flakes became tiny white puffs that stuck to the window, the packed snow becoming thicker until the room was so dark he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He really should be sleeping. He had classes in the morning and a mess to clean. He wondered how long Lily would stay mad at him. Surely, someday soon, she'd see sense and they'd talk this out and they'd be friends again and she would trust him again. He should take her to a concert this summer, she'd like that. She'd probably dress in muggle clothes just as a fuck you to the purebloods.

The thought of it made him smile and the tension, he didn't realise his body was holding, released. How long had he been that tense? Since his fight with Sirius? Obliviating Eilidh? Since he woke up in the hospital bed? Or before?

But he refused to think about that now. It would only awaken that horrible angry, scared feeling that made his stomach fill with acid.

He blinked and saw flashes of lights from spells he didn't know, angry faces laughing with malice.

He sat up.

Those moments between sleep and consciousness had once been so peaceful. It had been his time to daydream about flying on his broomstick. Or, when he was homesick, he'd think about sitting in his kitchen with his mother humming a random tune, his father would join in with his booming voice from another room, somehow always knowing the song; and when he was stressed he'd add his friends: Sirius laughing his laugh that rumbled, Remus calm and content usually holding a cup of tea, and Peter happy, genuinely happy. Now, his imagings were harder to hold onto. His mother would turn to smile at him and he'd see Mulcibers face. His father's singing became Abbott's taunts. Sirius would laugh, Remus would melt, Peter would smile and just as he'd notice the sparkle in his usually dull eyes there would be a flash of angry white light and he'd jolt awake, the stabbing pain in his chest somehow worse, and he'd have to start all over.

He thought maybe Sirius would understand this but how was he supposed to put it into words. 'Hey mate, I keep seeing shit while I'm falling asleep and now my chest hurts all the time. I'm still sane right?'

He could see Sirius's worried expression, hear his attempt to laugh it off. Later he'd tell Remus and then Remus would get so worried his lip would do that twitching thing and then Peter would find out and do that thing with his hands and start stuttering and being too nice. It'd be a disaster from start to finish. He was alone in this and he needed to remain alone. It would pass eventually and all he'd have to worry about is how to work in another vow of silence, how he was going to get Sirius to come home with him this Christmas because Merlin knows what really happens at his house, and Remus - everything about Remus from his grades to his sleep schedule.

Dear Godric, he couldn't think anymore.

He got out of bed. The floor felt cold even through his socks. It was quiet. Too quiet. It was itching at his ears like a bug.

"Sirius?" he murmured, hoping he was awake but not wanting to force him to be if he wasn't. Sirius moaned softly on his steady exhale, it was an unconscious response. Feeling heavily disappointed and lonelier than he ever had in his life, James started to dress for a trip out of doors.

He had been told by not only Madam Pomfrey, his mother, and Professor McGonagall, but Cresswell too, that he was exempt from Quidditch practice for the time being and that if he was seen on the Quidditch field "I'll put you back into the hospital myself," but that didn't include a quick midnight fly to clear his head. If some fresh air didn't help the aching in his chest he didn't know what would. So, with his broom in his hand, he all but ran out of his dormitory, afraid that he'd be stopped.

Eilidh was in the common room, working furiously by a dim candlelight, stressfully pulling at her hair. At the sound of his boots hitting the stairs, she looked up.

"James?"

She was going to tell him to go back to bed, to not put himself in harm's way, he could hear it in her voice.

"I couldn't sleep," he said, with an edge of defiance.

"I forgot about the Transfiguration essay due tomorrow, until about an hour ago," she said, passing a hand over her face. A moment passed. Then two, while he tried to think of what to say. He needed to get outside and she needed to let him go.

"I'll let you copy mine." If you let me go. If you keep your mouth shut.

Eilidh chuckled then looked contemplatively at her scribbled essay.

"Can I come with you? I could use the air," she said finally. "Unless you wanted to be alone?"

"Be quick about it then," James said, nodding to the girls' dormitory because surely she needed to put on warmer clothes. It was a wonder she wasn't freezing in the drafty common room in such thin pyjamas.

She smiled her appreciation and dashed up the stairs. James waited patiently as the air got thinner and gravity's pull got stronger until finally, she came down with her broom over her shoulder, looking more awake and much more excited than she had minutes before.

They walked quietly and with vigilance under the Invisibility Cloak, bonding in the camaraderie. James realised that this was the first time he had ever been actually alone with her and smiled at how easy it was before the guilt took over him and he had to stop thinking about that too.

"So what's with you?" he asked, stuffing the Cloak into his pocket as they skipped down the snow-covered steps, his hair already damp. She looked at him curiously and with an unconscious smile on her face. James decided he liked her best like this, late at night, inhibitions down, right on the edge of irresponsible. "Do you dream about Transfigurations essays or were you having trouble sleeping?"

She laughed nervously and looked off into the horizon.

"It's midnight, Nicnevin. If there was ever a time for a soul-baring conversation, now would be it," James prompted.

"I couldn't sleep," she answered. Their feet sunk low into the snow, well past their ankles, which meant that they were off the steps. James stayed quiet, waiting for her to talk more. She sighed, probably realising what he was doing, but still continued, "Christmas is coming."

"Most people wouldn't say that so ominously," James observed.

"Most people have something to look forward to during the holidays," she returned. It took a minute for James to realise what she meant.

"Your dad?" he asked. The only time she had ever spoken about her father was when she told them that he died and she had been an emotional mess then.

James had never lost someone he cared about; he hadn't even known anyone who had died. He couldn't imagine what it must be like and it surprised him a little to find that the loss still grated her so many months later.

"And, you know, Sirius is really confusing," she said, brightly. "I mean, he says he fancies me, asks me out, then acts like none of that happened until he sees me with another bloke and he gets all possessive. Then he kisses me, but only because of you. He's just… confusing."

"He cares about you a lot," James said, remembering their fight and how intense his eyes were when he defended her. "He was the same way with us in our first year and a little in second year. I don't think he really knows how to bond with people."

At his words, a realisation seemed to dawn over Eilidh. She leaned against the stadium's steps, looking thoughtfully at nothing in particular.

"What?" he asked. She blinked rapidly at him as if startled.

"I just - I think that might be a rich people thing. Both of my parents, my mother and her husband, are distant, even with each other. Lucas and I were close but as he got older and he started working with Ulric more, he became distant. Like Sirius, I guess. I just didn't realise it," Eilidh explained then mounted her broom. "It still doesn't explain the possessiveness, though."

She kicked off the ground before James got a chance to answer. She flew higher and higher until Hogwarts was nothing but a miniature figurine. The air was thinner and colder up here, the snow thicker, obscuring his vision, and the wind whipped at his ears deafening him. They had reached irresponsible and she had found peace, with her arms stretched out on either side of her, her head tilted back, the wind ripping through her hair.

"I don't care though!" she screamed. "Not when he makes me feel like this!"

And he understood because Sirius was just as wild as she was only in a different way. Sirius stood his ground, rooting himself to the spot, the longer he stayed the more entangled you became.

She liked to run with the wind. She was a bird. He was a bull. She was alive with the wind. He was alive with a punch. He was just as unfathomable and as dangerous as the wind.

It was a thrill. A rush of endorphins and adrenaline, knowing that you shouldn't but wanting it anyway.

It was explosive.

Safe.

Risky.

And probably doomed.

He was her Lily. The only difference was, Sirius wanted her back.

She was his punch to the gut. She could tear into him as easily as a sharpened knife through paper. The untouchable bull was injured by the bird.

"James!" she yelled fearfully. Lightning struck the ground a few miles from the Quidditch pitch.

They had been waiting for an electrical storm since last year. They had gone out of their way to perform the animagus charm twice a day, every day, counting the days until such a storm manifested. And here it was. Two days too late. Perhaps it was meant to mock him for his failure but he felt that second heartbeat, the one that belonged to his animal self, as lightning struck a second time, further away now. Anger warmed his ears despite the cold.

They landed on the top step, the harsh wind pushing them into the front doors and onto the stone floor of the entrance hall they had once covered in ice when things were simpler.

Eilidh scrambled to close the heavy doors and James helped by kicking it closed, clutching his shoulder that ached from the force he had fallen on it with.

"Did you hit your head?" she asked, sliding next to him to gently caress his forehead, inspecting him for new lumps.

"Are you in love with him?" he asked, surprised at how angry his voice sounded. He hadn't meant to sound so threatening. It was just a question.

"No," she said, pulling away from him. James stared at her, wondering how he could put his thoughts into words when his thoughts didn't make sense to himself.

"Sirius doesn't like being an option. He wants to be the option," James said because he knew that Sirius hated being second to Regulus in everything. "He's all or nothing," he said because Sirius worked in absolutes; he hated you or he didn't, he was good at something or he wasn't. "If you want something ask because he doesn't know." Sirius didn't know how to be around people, he only knew how to be better than everyone. "Don't hurt him," because Sirius was a hell of a lot more sensitive than he seemed.

"I don't want to," she breathed. "Hurt him, I mean."

"Then you won't," James said, helping her to her feet. "As for Christmas, you can make plans with us."

"Thank you. I think I want to see what it's like at home first," Eilidh answered, nervously.

"You think?" James questioned.

"James?" She stopped, very suddenly. With her on the first step and him on the ground, they were eye level and James could see the storm of emotion burning inside her just as furious as the one out there, but she just said, "are you okay?"

Perhaps he was thrown off by her questions but James felt for the first time in a long time and it was horrible.

"No," he whispered before he could stop himself.

Eilidh hugged him and James hugged her back because she knew what it was like to hurt, to be scared, and alone, and…. She just knew

* * *

 **Thank you, Love Fiction 2018! (for some reason it has a problem with the dots in your name but you know who you are) I hope you continue to. :D**

 *****Thanks for reading guys**

 **As always:**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO*****


	56. Remus Finds Out

To date, there had never been a day when James didn't wake his friends up the moment sunlight past the windowsill. It was annoying how energetic he was, talking a mile a minute, often stumbling over his words because his mouth couldn't keep up with his head, jumping over and onto things, including to Remus's bed. For any other person, James's forceful friendship would have been off-putting, but to Remus it was perfect. It was still annoying but, Remus was not the type of person who could make friends easily. In fact, if it hadn't been for James, he probably would have spent his seven years with only a few passing phrases between his dorm mates. Still, he thought he could do without the daily wake up call; he was a werewolf after all and need to stalk up on energy; he was entitled to a few minutes extra sleep now and then.

You never know what you've got till it's gone. A phrase Remus understood the meaning behind in a clinical sense but had never truly understood until that morning. Nothing was particularly wrong in the sense of an emergency, it was just slightly off. Groggily pulling apart his curtains, he realised what it was.

A near perfect parallelogram of light stretched across his dormitory, nearly reaching James's trunk. Surely, with James's curtain's wide open, the sun was in his eyes. Only the most tired of people would have the ability to sleep through that discomfort, but James, by his steadily rising chest and slackened, drool covered mouth, was sleeping blissfully.

Peter snored, nobody believed that Peter snored because Remus's snoring always overpowered his soft ones. While Sirius didn't snore, he scarcely moved even in evidence of breathing, he mumbled at random and scarce intervals, particularly in times of stress as he did this morning, telling Remus that he was the first to wake. Remus was never the first to wake. Sometimes he told his friends that he was but that was only to cover up a sleepless night.

"Hey, James?"

It was a sharp inhale that brought James into a sitting position.

"What time is it?" he asked, slightly panicked.

"Erm," Remus reached for his watch on his bedside table, bewildered. "7:13"

James threw his blankets off of him with such force they landed audibly in a crumpled mess, his feet hit the floor on the other side, elephantine in sound.

"Wake up you two!" James ordered, pulling his school robes over his pyjamas. "We don't have time for this," was his response to the grumbling. "We have shit to do today. We have to figure out how we're going to do the Mandrakes again. And we have to figure out who the rest of those Slytherins were. And -" James continued to rant about matters of non-pressing nature but seemed to have anxiety around them. It was enough to set Peter into hurried motion but Sirius seemed perfectly at ease as he blearily rubbed his eyes. He looked at Remus as if to say 'what's up with him' and Remus grimaced, saying, 'I have no idea.'

"Sirius get up! Mandrakes, Sirius, Mandrakes!" James yelled. "It was hard enough to get away with the first time, the second time is going to be impossible. McGonagall was suspicious, she'll probably know now. She's an animagus after all."

Sirius, grudgingly, his glare fueled with defiant anger, got up and silently made his way to the bathroom. James didn't notice.

"Remus, why did you let us sleep this late?" James demanded.

"Don't start on me," Remus muttered.

"I'm not starting on anybody," James said, defensively. "I'm just pointing out the fact that we're very, very late and nobody cares!" he shouted at the bathroom door.

"Then stop lecturing Sirius about Mandrakes. He knows how difficult it was, he was there," Remus said, trying to seem nonchalant. "It's a shitty way to wake up."

Peter marched by, muttering to himself inaudibly and angrily in a way that was very much not like Peter.

"Did I miss something?" Remus asked James.

James looked surprised that he would suggest such a thing. "No, why?"

"Everyone's -" Remus stirred his hands in the air, unable to think of the proper word. It was tense and it was a tension he wasn't apart of. Logically, he knew he should have been glad of it; less stress for him was good for his health. But he couldn't help but feel left out and, even worse, lied to. He wasn't an idiot. He knew when James was hiding something, had even been on the receiving end of it not once but twice, well, three times now.

"It was just a shitty way to wake up, right?" James smiled but it wasn't quite there, it was a haunted smile. Remus was, certainly, missing something. They had seemed fine when they had visited him in the hospital wing. Better than fine, all things considered. But now, James was panicky, Sirius didn't reply with snarky, fuck all remarks, Peter was broody. He didn't know what he had until it was gone.

Sirius left the dormitory without a word at their expense, only him wrenching open the door and slamming it closed again told them that he had left. He came back, moments later, to very blankly say, "Dumbledore wants you and Eilidh in his office." Sirius didn't give James time to ask questions before he slammed the door again.

"Git." James kicked his trunk closed. "See ya, Pete!" James waited but Peter didn't answer so he left the dormitory in a huff.

"Peter?" Remus called. If anyone was going to give him answers it would be Peter. And now they were alone.

Peter pulled the door open a little irritably, probably expecting James or Sirius. "Oh, hey, Remus."

"Do you want to see if we can make it to breakfast?" Remus smiled, invitingly.

"Go on ahead. I need to get dressed and double check my assignments," Peter said. "Save me some toast if I don't make it, yeah?"

Remus quickly found himself to be sitting with people he had never been around unless James and Sirius were present. They were their friends, not his. He listened to them talk about things he didn't know about nor cared to know about.

Frank was having an affair with Alice Prewett that was increasingly becoming more public the more they tried to keep it a secret. It would be difficult to keep anything secret when Gabe Pevensie, with a knowing air and a booming voice, announced that a "mysterious" voice issuing from a broom closet told him to tell Frank 'geraniums' accompanied by loud snickering from his cohorts and jokes about nonexistent 'extra patrols.' Frank left the table flushed and in a hurry.

Remus glanced at the door, hoping that his friends would miraculously appear at the perfect moment and save him. Gabe Pevensie and his friends had, for some reason, taken it upon themselves to fill the empty bench space surrounding him. They continued on with their conversations, clearly, by their side glances, hoping that Remus would join in like James and Sirius would, as if, by simply associating with them, he had adopted that talent. He felt too out of place to think of anything to say.

He couldn't stop thinking about how odd he must look sitting between a hoard of seventh years. Broad, stocky, athletic Gabe Pevensie on his right, making him look even more like a wiry tangle of limbs. Adrian Longbottom, tall, and smartly dressed in his accessorized school robes making his look even more shabby and second handed. Dirk Cresswell, his reputation for brilliance known even to the fourth years while Remus was up to his elbows in bullshit, made him feel transparent.

"I have to go," was all that Remus could bring himself to say as he shot up, knowing, even as he did it, that he was ridiculous.

"Tell Potter to come find me," Gabe told him. "I might have a girl for him."

The remark didn't sound strange to Remus until he was in the entrance hall. James had a girl. Or at least he had his eyes on a girl. He didn't need Gabe to have a girl for him. Then he saw Peter and his mind went blank.

Peter was bloody. He had streaks of red running down from his nose and his hairline. The puffy flesh around his eye was black, purple, and tender. One white-knuckled fist gripped his wand the other was trembling and an angry vengeful red.

"Sirius," he panted, pointing to the dungeons.

Remus would have cursed but to save time he shot forward without a word. The first corridor echoed with the sound of grunts and whispered spells. The second contained a litter of first years nervously watching around a corner. The third was a tangle of black, green, and red. Three Slytherins, one Gryffindor. Each of their wands waving and jabbing wildly, flashes of red and white lights bounced around. Sirius fought off ropes spewing from Mulciber and Avery's wands while the third made a jab for his chest.

"Crucio!" growled the voice. He was most definitely older than Sirius by his attempt at a moustache and a well-defined jaw. Remus came to recognise him as Antonin Dolohov from the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Sirius cried out in anguish and fell, his head hitting the stone floor with a skin-crawling crack. The ropes vanished, they were only meant to be a distraction. The spell didn't last for longer than a second but still, it was enough to damage to most witches and wizards. But not Sirius. He seemed to be thriving from the pain. His eyes burning with a ferocity Remus had never seen. It chilled him.

"Is that all you sons of bitches got?" he grunted. Remus shuttered at the cruelty in it. A sheen of sweat covered Sirius's lively face, his hair mussed, his grin broad and menacing, his wand slashing so quickly it was a blur. The Slytherins were thrown against the wall.

"Protego!" Remus waved his wand, creating a barrier between himself and Sirius and the so-called 'sons of bitches' readying their counterattack. He pulled Sirius up and pushed him backwards.

Sirius took a step forward. "Put the wall down, Remus."

Remus didn't respond.

Sirius laughed as Mulciber tried to break down the wall while Dolohov and Avery ducked from the rebounding spells.

"Let's go, Sirius," Remus said, surprised at how strong his voice sounded. Sirius jerked away from Remus's outstretched hand, lingered a moment longer, then turned to leave. He didn't look back nor did he speak, he merely walked out of the dungeon at a casual stroll. His breathing sounded purposefully calm.

James and Peter were sitting on the marble staircase, with James doing his best to tend to Peter's wounds. Eilidh stood over them, bouncing on the balls of her feet, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. It only took her a second to realise they were there.

"You short-sighted, little prat," Eilidh hissed, looking every bit as menacing as Sirius had. Her accent seemed to be more prominent when she was angry.

"Nicnevin," said James firmly, kneeling beside Peter who held a wet handkerchief to his bruised eye, all signs of blood now gone. "It had to happen, eventually."

"Not like this. Not on their bloody doorstep. You're lucky this is all that happened," Eilidh pointed at Peter still sitting on the marble staircase, his one good eye flashing from Eilidh to Remus then settled on Sirius.

"I told you to wait," Eilidh growled.

"And we elected to ignore your unwarranted advice," Sirius returned, his face flushed and arms trembling.

"Unwarranted?" Eilidh whispered which was somehow more terrifying than her yelling. Sirius became still and unreadable. "Fine."

"Eilidh." James reached for her halfheartedly, but Eilidh ignored it and continued to stalk into the Great Hall. "Nice one, mate."

Sirius gritted his teeth and looked away from James's disappointed stare.

"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?" Remus asked his mind racing, heart thumping, his hands pulsing. And James told him, keeping things short and to the point, about a fight on the night of the full moon that ended with James in the hospital wing, unresponsive. Remus couldn't help but feel that Eilidh was right. Unfortunately, James didn't seem to feel the same. His only problem seemed to be in Sirius's choice of words.

"She is our friend, Sirius."

"I know."

"You have to apologise."

"I know!"

It was a chilly day metaphorically and physically. James refused to be anything but coldly polite to Sirius until he apologised, Sirius stubbornly refused to say the words I'm sorry, and Eilidh might as well have been a stranger to them.

Except in DADA. Sirius, once again trying to apologise without actually apologising, asked Eilidh to be his partner in their duelling exercise. Eilidh gladly accepted. Sirius smiled at James in an I - told - you - so sort of way and proceeded to get his arse kicked.

"Obviously, I let her win. Her offence might be good but her defence is shit," Sirius defended against their teasing in a low voice, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't heard.

Sirius didn't try again in Herbology. Remus couldn't help but notice that Eilidh sat alone, a short distance away from her dorm mates, and an even larger distance away from Sirius and therefore the rest of them. She didn't appear to be upset about this, on the contrary, she looked content with the quiet.

By Potions, however, James had had enough.

"Two words, three syllables, and she's yours," James whispered through the steam rising from their cauldron, his frustration almost tangible.

"Why should I?" Sirius nearly yelled. He glanced at Slughorn before adding, "they're just words."

"And sometimes they're necessary. Not everyone gets your stupid-"

"It's not stupid," Sirius argued. James looked flustered for a moment then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Go over there and apologise properly," James hissed, his hands gripping the edge of the table, his glasses fogging up as he leaned over the cauldron. Sirius issued a noise that was both a growl and a sigh then stalked off. "If I don't hear the words 'I'm' and 'sorry' don't expect me to talk to you anymore either."

Sirius scowled at him but continued on towards Eilidh's table. He sent Mary Macdonald to replace him as James's partner.

"What'd he say?" James asked before Mary had the chance to sit down.

"He said to switch places with him," Mary said obviously.

"And what did she say?" James continued.

"She didn't say anything." Mary looked questioningly from James to Eilidh then to Peter. James watched over his shoulder as Sirius talked and Eilidh ignored.

"I think we need more…" James's mumble was unintelligible as he practically ran for the storage cupboard.

"We need more of that too," Remus said, sending Peter an apologetic look before following James.

"All right, fine," Sirius was saying, slumping into the barstool next to Eilidh. James was taking his time dragging a scale from the cupboard. "Total honesty."

"Yes, I want you to leave," Eilidh said automatically and defensively, her body going rigid as she side glanced Sirius.

"Do you know what he's-" James whispered.

"Shh!" Remus hissed, using a large knife to watch their reflection.

"I didn't ask -" Sirius started to argue.

"I know. You don't ask about a lot," Eilidh interrupted, her voice suddenly full of venom.

"What's she doing?" James asked.

"Can't see her face but I think she's glaring at him," Remus said.

Sirius, he could see clearly. He looked confused, his eyes scanned her face like he was trying to piece together a puzzle.

"I am sorry," he said finally. Eilidh's shoulders fell either out of shock or relief, her grip on her ladle slackened.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay?" Sirius was utterly perplexed. He clearly wasn't expecting an 'okay.' "Look. Your advice is always appreciated and most of the time it's followed. This time, even though you were completely right, we decided to..." Sirius paused, trying to think of how to word this properly.

"Ignore it?" Eilidh finished for him.

"Not like that," Sirius said quickly.

"Then why'd you say it?" Eilidh challenged.

"Because," Sirius paused, glanced at Remus in his knife, grit his teeth, and somewhat reluctantly admitted, "I was mad. And I'm a stupid, short-sighted, little prat."

"I'm not apologising for that," she said quickly, then more kindly, "I am sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"Nah," Sirius shrugged and cut up her African red pepper.

"This is your game, you know," Eilidh reminded, sounding only a little annoyed.

"Yes. Fine. All right," Sirius grumbled, cutting faster. "But while we're on the subject of apologies, I'd like to apologise on behalf of my rude, annoying, busy-body friends."

Eilidh looked around and met Remus's eye in his knife. James smirked at Remus before spinning around.

"We're not leaving until you two kiss and make up," James declared.

"If I take back my apology will keep your promise and give me the silent treatment?" Sirius asked pointedly.

"A word of caution James," Eilidh said, smiling, "your new partner is rubbish at potions."

James's smile faded slightly as he turned to look back at their table. Black smoke was rising from both of their cauldrons. Mary and Peter were too involved in their own conversation to notice. Remus scurried forward. James sent one last look at Sirius then followed suit.

"Peter, we're supposed to stir it every half of a minute," Remus announced, jogging over to his cauldron. There was no saving their potion, it was completely charred. He wondered, hopelessly, if they had time to start fresh.

"Oh, gross," Mary muttered, pulling James's ladle out and with it a thick strand of goop.

"Ah," James said coming up at the sight.

"Is there -?" Mary started but was interrupted by a sneered; "What is that?"

Snape, with every bit of disdain he could muster, glared from the opposite side of the aisle. Avery, beside him, snickered.

"It's your face cream, Snivellus. Or don't you recognise it?" James grabbed the ladle from Mary and made to hand it to him. Snape recoiled, almost falling out of his chair in his haste.

"Okay, time to pack everything away and clean up. Do not forget to leave a phial of your potion, clearly marked, on my desk," Slughorn announced quickly as he made his way over to the four. He peered into both cauldrons, his nose wrinkling slightly. "Er, you'll have to take zeros for today, I'm afraid."

"It's all right, Professor, we'll make it up next class," James said easily. Remus couldn't help but count all of his accumulated zeros. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kept his mouth tightly shut. James was dazzling his way out of trouble.

"I'm sure you will m'boy. How are you feeling?" Slughorn asked, smiling already.

"Never better, thank you, sir," James grinned back.

"Good, good. And how are your parents?"

"Brilliant as always. They were hoping to run into you while they were here," James leaned lazily against the table.

"Yes, I caught them just as they were leaving. I always knew they would make a great pair," Slughorn chuckled as his eyes glazed over, lost in better days.

"Dad always said you were his favourite teacher," James told him, matching Slughorn's proud smile.

"Did he? Oh, that's very kind of him. He was always one of my favourite students even if he did have a penchant for trouble."

"Like father like son," James shrugged, smirking.

"So it would seem," Slughorn laughed. "Well, I'll let you get to your work dear boy. And, er, Mr Pettigrew, would you see me after class?"

Peter's eyes grew wide as a blush crept up his neck. He nodded and gulped then Professor Slughorn strolled away.

"We're getting an excused, did you say?" James called after him.

"Yes, yes," Slughorn waved.

Remus cocked his brow at James. James's smirk disappeared.

"Piss off," James told him, knocking into his shoulder. Remus laughed.

It turned out that Slughorn had asked both Peter and Sirius to stay after class which could only mean that Eilidh was about to be proved correct.

"Hi," she said, meeting them in the corridor.

"Mrs Black," James nodded.

"Keep your voice down, will you?" Eilidh hissed, glancing around them.

"Well?" James asked.

"Er, I'm sorry for ignoring you today," Eilidh mumbled.

"No, you and Sirius," James said obviously.

"Oh. We're speaking," Eilidh shrugged.

"Speaking?" James questioned. "How are you still mad?"

"It's not just me," Eilidh said defensively. James blinked at her which only irritated her more. "We're working on it."

"Why don't we work on it together? We're all friends, right?" James pressed. Eilidh squinted at him.

"Stay out of it," she said firmly.

"Sounds easy enough," Remus blurted, sensing James's need to interfere. "You should wait with us. Shouldn't be too long now."

"Er, I can't actually. I need to have a long, dramatic, all around horrible chat with my dorm mates. Will you be in your dormitory later? I might need a good laugh," Eilidh asked, looking both hopeful and sad.

"You still haven't told Lily?" James guessed and by Eilidh's defensive and angry stance, Remus assumed he was correct. "Merlin you two!"

"Stay. Out of it!" Eilidh ordered before stomping off.

"They will never last if they don't sort this out," James muttered more to himself than anyone.

"Eilidh's trying to, at least," Remus commented.

"We don't even know what Sirius did. He already apologised for the unwarranted thing, what else is there?" James ranted, throwing his hands in the air.

"I reckon he knows what he did. She's not exactly mouse-y, is she?" Remus said.

"She's different with him. It's weird. And it makes everything more complicated." James crossed his arms over his chest, threw himself against the dungeon wall, and glared at the potions classroom's door. "You up for a bit more mischief today, Moony?"

Remus's head said 'no, absolutely not' but the rest of him was still buzzing in an unsatisfied way from this morning's dose of adrenaline. He opened his mouth to speak, shook his head at himself, and walked out of the dungeon. "Are we really going to continue calling me that?"

"Absolutely," James grinned. "It'll be on your gravestone."

* * *

 *****Son of Whitebeard, thank you. I never understood why the Board of Govoners wasn't used more, even by JK, thank you for noticing :) As for Abbott, every family has a black sheep and war tears people apart. It was either that or I kill someone's twin and goddamn it I'm not JK ;P**

 **Love Fiction 2018, I'm so glad you did :D thanks for the review!*****

 *****I'm not going to be available later in the week so you're getting this early. It'll be updated once it's edited but I don't think much will change.**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.**

 **All rights reserved**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO********


	57. Gryffindor Girls Dormitory

*****Warning: There are inappropriate jokes at the end of the chapter. It's probably no more than PG-13 but just in case, if you don't like sexual type jokes don't read this chapter, let me know and I'll give you a summary.**

* * *

 **The time that a lot happened in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory.**

Eilidh's nerves almost got the better of her. She didn't even know why she liked him. He was infuriatingly prideful and unknowable and intense. She normally went for the lively, easygoing, charismatic type, like James. Yet, somehow, James had never appealed to her the way Sirius did.

She was willing to talk to Lily about this which would quite possibly ruin their friendship. Understandably so considering she was Lily's friend first, meaning Lily's enemies should be hers as well. Eilidh couldn't help liking those boys any more than could help not liking Severus.

So there she was, because of Sirius's 'deal breaker,' standing outside her own dormitory, trying to get the nerve to walk in.

Lily was stubborn and she considered Severus family. All Eilidh had was the feeble argument, "There are two sides to every story. They're great lads if you give them a chance."

With her heart in her throat and her palms sweating, Eilidh opened the door and remained unnoticed until she let it fall. The chatter stopped immediately and, just as suddenly, all four eyes were on her. Eilidh rested her weight against the door.

"Hey," she said nervously and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Marlene smiled gently at her, Mary bit her lip, while Lily and Josie made no attempt to hide their negative feelings. "Er, I need to talk to you all about something. Marls, do you have time?"

"Plenty," Marlene said, after a quick glance at her wristwatch.

Eilidh would be forever grateful for Marlene's support during this time. Quidditch practice was scheduled in half an hour and Marlene liked to show up early in hopes of becoming Quidditch Captain when Cresswell graduated. Whether or not it would work, she was still sacrificing something important to her just to be there for Eilidh.

"Make it quick. We have to study," Lily said, flicking her hair back and crossing her arms. She leaned against Josie's four-poster.

It was as if an unexpected and very bright stage light was suddenly pointed at her. She took a few steps forward, careful to appear confident and open.

Eilidh didn't know where to start. Should she come out and say it, or should she find a way to ease into it? She looked to Marlene who nodded encouragingly, Mary who smiled kindly, then back to Lily and Josie, the lions of the den.

"Something happened a while ago that I didn't tell you about. I don't know why I didn't tell you then. I mean, I thought it would be best to see if things would stay the way they were but then-" She was rambling, she could feel it in the way her breath caught in her throat. Marlene cleared her throat and tapped against her bedpost, telling Eilidh to move things along.

"Get to the point, Nicnevin." Lily flicked her hair back and pressed her lips into a thin line.

Eilidh went cold. It was fine for James, and sometimes Sirius, to refer to her by her surname but from Lily, it was just dissociative and demeaning.

"I'm dating Sirius." Saying it was rather simple, especially when she no longer cared about what Lily thought.

Lily froze, her eyes looking through Eilidh rather than at her. Josie, however, almost jumped up, her face falling. Eilidh stood her ground, her expression just as cold as theirs had been. She no longer cared. She was now the lion.

"Well, I hope he makes you happy," Lily said, then turned to leave. Picking up her rucksack on her way out, she slammed the door behind her.

"How could you do that to Lily?" Josie asked quietly.

"I don't want to hear it, Josie," Eilidh snapped. A thousand daggers were piercing her heart, and it was all she could do to hold on to that anger. She didn't want to cry now. Her nails dug into her palms to distract from the pricking in her eyes.

"When you and Sirius break up and you will come to your senses, Lily will take you back because that's the person she is. I hope you realise that you don't deserve a friend like her. She'd never do that to you," Josie said, her voice strong, but she was having trouble meeting Eilidh's eye.

"I said, I don't want to hear it," Eilidh snarled and continued to snarl as she watched Josie stomp out. The door slammed again and Eilidh fell into a pit of exhaustion, her eyes welling with hot tears.

She turned away from Mary and Marlene, her eyes locked, blurrily, on Marlene's cat napping on the windowsill.

"So, you and Sirius are official?" Mary said, weakly.

"Don't you remember the marriage ceremony?" Marlene teased.

Eilidh took a deep breath, let a few tears fall, dried her eyes, then turned around.

"I'm fine," she smiled, certainly sounding fine, but she wasn't fine at all, she was just numb.

"You should be. You've got two wonderful friends," Mary grinned, draping her arm around Marlene, "oh, and a cute boyfriend."

"Let's not use that word just yet," Eilidh cringed.

"Why not? You're 'officially a non-platonic thing. At least that's what Potter said during last practice," Marlene shrugged.

"Maybe she has something against the word cute?" Mary suggested.

"It's not that." Eilidh shook her head. This was just another thing to worry about. She squeezed her eyes shut wishing she could go back and do it all over.

"Getting trouble from both ends?" Marlene asked, already knowing the answer. Eilidh nodded, her eyes still closed. She did not want to cry right now. "Come over here and talk about it."

"That's what friends are for," Mary agreed, climbing over her bed to get to Marlene's. Eilidh chucked.

"It's just, I started this, a little aggressively, so I kinda want him to set the tone and take his own pace with this whole thing," Eilidh said, taking a keen interest in her thumbs.

"You're still talking about the kiss thing?" Marlene droned. Eilidh could hear the eye roll.

"The kiss th- you two already kissed?" Mary exclaimed. "That would have been nice to know!"

"It's not what you think," Eilidh argued, catching herself smiling. "I kissed him, it wasn't even a real kiss. Anyway, it happened at the beginning of the year and we were practically forced into it."

"I wouldn't say forced," Marlene muttered.

"I forced him," Eilidh corrected, the familiar guilt returning to her.

"He said he was into it, didn't he?" Marlene argued.

"Sort of," Eilidh mumbled.

"What do you mean sort of?" Mary asked.

"He said that he was happy it happened-"

"Exactly."

"But that he wished he had been the one to do it," Eilidh pressed on despite Marlene's insistence.

"I see what you mean," Mary murmured looking sympathetic. Marlene rolled her eyes and groaned dramatically.

"He's obviously not taking the initiative so why shouldn't you be the one to do it. Maybe, by kissing him, you let him know that you want to be the one who sets the tone," Marlene argued.

"I have to agree with Eilidh on this one, Marls," Mary said with an apologetic smile. Marlene scoffed and laid out on the bed. "I think that by kissing him first she might have tapped into his insecurities and that's why he's not taking the initiative."

"So she should what? Play damsel in distress to re-inflate his ego? Don't waste your time with a guy like that," Marlene waved her off. Eilidh felt horrible about it but she agreed with Marlene.

"Don't be so cruel. People are allowed to have insecurities," Mary reasoned.

Eilidh sighed and finally collapsed onto the bed between them. Marlene absentmindedly combed her fingers through Eilidh's hair. Mary twisted her bracelet around in her fingers. Both seemed keen on staying quiet to let Eilidh think. Eilidh didn't want to think right now. She wanted a distraction.

"Mary, who's your crush?" Eilidh asked, lightly, hoping she wouldn't cause another issue. She could just blame it on suspicion.

Marlene's combing paused shortly.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked, her fingers no longer twisting around the beads.

"Just asking," Eilidh said softly.

"You'll see," Mary said, her fingers resuming. Her answer only confused Eilidh more, but she didn't press it.

"And Marlene?" Eilidh asked, truly curious. Marlene hummed or groaned, it was hard to tell.

"Everyone at Hogwarts is straight, thus I have no crush" she admitted, her tone light, but her hands had gently clutched some of Eilidh's hair. "No real crush anyway."

"Would you ever kiss her?" Eilidh asked, stealing the opportunity to prove her point. Lily would have insisted on finding someone for her but she was both a mingling pest and a much better friend.

"That's different. I know for sure she doesn't want it," Marlene argued.

"But he didn't want it either," Eilidh whispered, afraid of what the words might have sounded like at full volume.

"Eilidh," Marlene sounded exasperated as she sat up, propping herself up on her elbow. "You two were in a tough spot and you did what you had to to get out of it. If he really didn't want it, he wouldn't have asked you out, he wouldn't have said that he wished he had been the one to do it. Stop worrying over nothing!"

"Marls, you don't understand. What if he feels like he has to date me now because that's what a proper gentleman would do? You know, the way he was raised to be?" Eilidh had grown loud, her voice thick and cracking, her hands stirred the air then collapsed, with a thud, against her stomach.

"Then I'll kick his arse," Marlene said. Eilidh groaned and pressed her palms into her eyes until she saw stars. "All right, all right. I'm sorry." Marlene pried her hands away and took hold of one. "I don't think Sirius is like that. At all. If anything, he seems spiteful towards tradition. But, talk to him about this. Probably under the influence of a good calming draught."

Eilidh laughed and shook her head.

"That is advice I can agree with," Mary said, smiling at the pair.

"I'll probably ruin everything," Eilidh laughed at herself, knowing how true it was. She had just ruined things with Lily and for sure with Josie.

"I don't think you'll ruin it. If anything, it shows you care about him," Mary said.

"Oh, yeah, 'sorry I assaulted you with my mouth. Let's forget the whole thing ever happened' is really heart-warming," Eilidh said bitterly.

"Please don't say it like that," Marlene implored.

"I hope you're not dating me out of obligation or to inflate your ego because I'd rather not waste my time?" Eilidh joked. Marlene threw Eilidh's hand away but laughed. Mary grinned, shaking her head. Eilidh groaned and sat up. "I told them I would meet them in their dormitory."

"So go," Marlene said. "And take some condoms with you."

Mary snorted.

"For what?" Eilidh demanded.

"For the orgie. Why else would you want to be alone with four men?" Marlene smirked, dancing over to their shared closet.

"For the smell mostly," Eilidh said matter-of-factly, her nose wrinkling at the remembered stench of stale socks and old food. She collapsed back onto the bed.

"You have to face him sometime," Mary said.

"But it's so much safer in here," Eilidh groaned, rolling onto her feet. "I should have let my gran send me to the nunnery."

Marlene stuck her head out of the closet, grinning. "I'll let you wear my dress that shows off your boobs."

"I don't have boobs, Marlene."

"Yes you do, they're just small," Marlene's voice came out muffled before she re-emerged from the closet. "But don't worry, I can fix that too."

"Please, do not tell me you're going to magically grow my breasts," Eilidh implored, her voice hard.

"Ever hear of makeup, love?" Marlene smirked.

"I don't want to get dressed up just to hang out in their dormitory. Your dress will come back with a weird stain," Eilidh argued.

"You won't look too dressed up. It's just a summer dress."

"It's almost December. In a drafty castle," Eilidh said blankly and yet somehow still got corralled into sitting in front of Marlene's mirror.

"You'll wear a coat and some tights. Oh, and those pink chucks?" Marlene signalled to Mary.

"Those are awful," Eilidh whined.

"Hey!" Mary called indignantly

"They'll look perfect with the dress. And pink looks good on you," Marlene complimented.

"I don't think we should use the tights," Mary said with her head under her bed. "It'll make her look too short."

Marlene mused over Eilidh's chest. Eilidh sunk lower into the chair.

"We're gonna need Alice," Marlene said finally.

"Why? Why do we need Alice?"

"Because Alice is an artist," Marlene said simply, swooping out of the dormitory.

Eilidh glared at Mary's raised buttocks and contemplated dashing for the door. She would only be deemed childish if she did and she had already made a fool of herself enough for one day. Besides, there was nothing wrong with getting a little dressed up now and then. And if James teased her, she could rightfully hex him.

* * *

 *****BadwolfYuki, hello and welcome. Also, hello to your boyfriend ;) I thought the same thing but after extensive research, I couldn't find any evidence in cannon to support it so I kinda developed my own headcannon about James's hometown and how he ends up in Godric's Hollow. I hope this change doesn't hinder your enjoyment of my little story. Thank you so much for your review, for the compliment, for answering my question, and for reading :D*****

* * *

 *****I'm sorry I haven't been posting very often lovies, I've had some changes in my life that I'm kinda having a hard time adapting too. I promise I'm not abandoning this story and I'm genuinely trying to get back on schedule. Thank you for your patience, you all are the best :)**

 **I'm too tired to think of a good chapter title right now so you'll have to excuse me but thank you for reading anyway**

 **All rights reserved and all that jazz.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	58. James is a Meddling Bastard

**Warning for language (I've probably missed a ton of these. I'm sorry if it's bothered you.)**

* * *

 **James is a meddling bastard and awkwardness ensues**

James had practically forced the T-shirt over his head. The nice T-shirt, the one that was too scratchy to even consider wearing. He drew the line at Sleekeazy, though. His hair would remain untouched and effortless until he died and he would make damn well sure that would happen before it all fell out.

"What are you doing?" Sirius demanded to know for the millionth time in the last ten minutes as James chucked his brown dress shoes at him.

"I told you -"

"Eilidh's coming. What does that mean?" Sirius was trying not to yell now. Eilidh had been in their dormitory, had hung out with them plenty of times, to not make an affair out it. Sirius coughed, choking on the bitter taste of the cologne James had surprised him with.

"You messed up and you suck at apologies," James said simply, marching across the room. Sirius took his frustration out on forcing his way into his shoes. James was probably planning something big and dramatic, maybe even romantic, but he was right. He sucked at apologies. He sucked at this whole non-platonic relationship thing. He had just gotten used to the platonic relationships.

Not that he would take it back. There was something satisfying about knowing that Eilidh fancied him.

James dug around in the closet that stored the clothes they promised their parents they would wear but never did. He dropped a box and a thousand bow ties littered the floor. Those were from Sirius's aunt: She had a thing about bow ties and had given one as a gift for every holiday and birthday for as long as he could remember. He didn't feel particularly bothered about them being on the floor. His cufflinks jingled against each other, or rather his father's cufflinks. Then James emerged, holding his brown leather belt over his head. Sirius hated that thing and had shoved it in the closet for a reason.

"It matches your shoes," James defended, mistaking the reason behind Sirius's expression.

"I imagine that's why my mother bought it," Sirius grimaced, keeping his bitter thoughts to himself.

"Look, you don't actually need it so you can wear it loosely. You won't even know it's there," James thrust the belt toward Sirius. Sirius stayed determinedly still and then stiffly accepted the belt. "Good." James dived back into the closet. Sirius tossed the belt to the side, hoping it would get lost in their communal pile of dirty laundry. "Last thing!" James stepped out of the closet, "where's the-"

"I lost it. I think it's time we cleaned up a bit," Sirius said appearing regretful.

"Whatever, put this on," James shook his head and ran for his trunk. It was a stuffy looking sports coat he wouldn't be caught dead in. Sirius grumbled, put it on, and examined himself in the closet mirror.

"I look like a twat," he announced.

"Fitting, considering that's what she just called you," James returned.

"I look like my brother," Sirius groaned. If he had accepted the Sleekeazy hair potion he would have been the spitting image of Regulus Black.

"She'll like it," James told him.

"Then she should date him," Sirius grumbled, ripping his arms out of the coat, striding for his trunk. He dug around until he found what he was searching for. He pulled out his black, smooth leather jacket that he had bought in that muggle village. (He supposed it was sentimental enough to make up for the lack of a sports coat.) He had fallen for it instantly but it didn't match his stuffy shoes so he traded them out for his regular boots.

He looked in the mirror again. This time he was met with a confident image reflecting back at him. The jacket was loud and too angry to really match with the soft, stuffy shirt and nice jeans but somehow he pulled it off. He didn't think Eilidh would mind if his boots were more than a little scuffed. He turned to James.

"Now can I know what the plan is?"

"It's a surprise," James said, smiling. A knock sounded at the door. Sirius's stomach dropped. James rushed forward, "here," and forced flowers into his hand.

"Where'd you - what?" Sirius hissed, hoping that she couldn't hear him through the door. James pushed him forward, ignoring his arguments but couldn't ignore Sirius pushing back.

"Come in!" James called out, realizing that he couldn't physically force Sirius forward.

"No, no, no!" The door pulled shut again.

"What are you doing?" James demanded.

"I - she's not gonna like these," Sirius hissed, thrusting the flowers back at James. He didn't know per se, but he felt certain that roses weren't Eilidh's favorite. James groaned, tossed the flowers in the bin, and produced another set, Tulips, with a wave of his wand. He didn't give Sirius a chance to protest this time. In one long stride, James was at the door and Eilidh was revealed while Sirius stood there like a prat in mismatched clothes, staring at flowers with a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh, that sneaky little minx," Eilidh muttered, staring at the stupid flowers through squinted eyes. She was in a dress so he didn't feel too horrible about his stuffy clothes.

"Hi," James peered around the opened door, probably wearing that stupid grin of his.

"James," Eilidh smiled her smile that wasn't really a smile. "I'd appreciate if you didn't involve my friends in your schemes."

"I didn't," James said innocently. "I involved a teammate in my schemes."

Eilidh clicked her tongue at him and continued to glare.

"You look like a girl," James commented.

"I hit like one too," Eilidh raised her fist threateningly.

"Eilidh!" Sirius, coming to his senses, strode forward, his arm outstretched. "These are," Sirius set out to pin the blame for the stupid flowers entirely on James. It was stupid and cliche and sappy and it made her eyes soften. "For you," he said.

"Thank you," she said, her fingers brushing against his as she accepted the flowers. Sirius stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets noting that she liked stupid and cliche and sappy.

"You look nice," he said feeling awkward as he said it but then she smiled, genuinely.

"So do you. But I take it that was the plan." Her eyes shifted back to James who was leaning against the open door with his annoyingly smug expression.

"No, that was genetics," James said, "and it's Sirius plan that I'm putting into action."

Eilidh looked questioningly at Sirius.

"I have a lot of plans," Sirius said and mentally added that none of them involved dressy clothes and suffocating cologne.

"This one involves the ballroom," James said.

"Mate," Sirius said. He had said in passing that Eilidh didn't know how to dance not that he was planning on teaching her.

"I personally think it's an incredibly romantic plan bound to make anyone's knickers drop," James said. Eilidh smiled awkwardly at him.

"Let's go then," she said quickly.

"Right," Sirius led her out and closed the door before remembering who he was friends with.

"Don't spy on us," Sirius hissed at James.

James gave a noncommittal hum.

"I'm serious, not even t-"

"I know perfectly well who you are, mate," James grinned before forcing the door shut. "Hold her hand!" he yelled through the door

Sirius scowled at James's shadow feet. He had every intention of holding her hand but now that he had been told to do it he couldn't. He needlessly adjusted his jacket.

"So, why are we going to the ballroom?" Eilidh asked.

"It's a surprise," Sirius said because he himself didn't know but didn't want to look like he was incapable of knicker dropping romance. They walked down the stairs side by side, their hands almost touching. He could still feel how soft her fingers were against his when she took the flowers. He'd look like an absolute idiot if he tried to hold her hand after James told him to do it.

"This isn't about the whole dancing thing?" she asked.

"No."

"It's really not a problem."

"Do you want to hold hands?" he demanded, his stomach in knots. She only blinked at him. "I just thought it'd be weird after James…."

"It's fine," she said.

"Okay," he said, taking her fine as a negative.

She sighed and laced her fingers with his. "It's fine," she smiled.

So they held hands and his stomach felt better.

Peter and Remus were in the ballroom, lighting the chandelier and setting the pixies meant for the Alum Ball free.

"A vase for your flowers, Madam," Remus said, offering the vase to Eilidh. "Sirius, there's a music selection in the crate over there. We borrowed it from Dumbledore so if anyone asks, it was here when you got here."

"Good night," Peter said, nudging Remus out the door.

"This is about the dancing thing," Eilidh said.

"What part of dancing isn't romantic?" Sirius challenged, backing away towards the music crate.

"Broken toes," she mumbled.

Sirius shifted through the records, heeding her warning, and chose a simple waltz.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, lowing the needle.

"I don't trust me," she clarified.

He stepped forward and guided her into the proper stance, one hand on his shoulder with the other cradled in his. His free hand he rested gently on her waist. He really should have held her more firmly but she was already uncomfortable.

"The waltz is a smooth, gliding dance in a three-quarter time with a simple three beat rhyme," Sirius explained, taping the beat against her waist. "Ready?"

"I'm going to step on your toes," she whispered.

"These are steel-toed boots," he whispered back.

"Please don't step on mine."

"Start with your right and follow my lead. Step. Step. Close."

She had oversold how terrible she was at dancing. She had a problem with letting him lead and she was too stiff in her movements but that went along with her character. Overall she wasn't half as bad as he was led to believe.

"Try to relax," he said and she took a deep, slow breath. It resulted in her ceasing to back lead but didn't help with the fluidity of her movements.

"Do you want to try a turn?" he asked, deciding that concurring a more advanced move would help with her confidence.

"Will I break my ankle?" she asked. He turned resulting in no injury but she did end up closer to him than before. He could feel her breath on his neck.

"Any broken ankles?" he asked.

"No. My toes are fine too," she smiled.

"Ready to move then?" he asked.

"We are moving," she said.

"Around the room I mean," Sirius said.

She looked truly apprehensive for the first time. "That's usually when I start stepping on people's toes."

"Steel toes," he reminded, taking the first swooping step. She looked down at their feet, her tongue actually sticking out like a concentrating comic book character. She started back leading again and her movements were not only stiff but clumsy.

"Relax," he said soothingly.

She looked up, kicked his ankle, tripped, and he trod on her foot trying to catch her.

"Ow, pain!" she groaned, clutching her foot while on the ground.

"Sorry! Sorrysorrysorry!" he said, ripping off his boots.

"Now your toes are unprotected," she said, trying to smile but grimace instead.

"The safer your feet'll be," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Believe it or not, I've had worse," she said, taking off her own shoes. "You weren't lying about those steel toes."

He helped her up.

"It might help if you weren't so afraid of dancing."

"I'm not afraid!"

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"It's the only thing I can't do. I've won every clean fight I've ever been in. I'm fluent in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Runes. I can tell you the exact location of any star in the sky but put me in a ballroom and tell me to dance…." she laughed, bitterly, and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You're thinking too much about it," Sirius told her, leading her to the centre of the room. "This isn't fighting, or languages, or Astrology. Those are all mental. This is physical. You need to feel the music. Let your body guide you."

"That's what the instructors always said," she said.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, pulling her back into position.

"Yeah," she breathed.

"I trust you so if you really trust me you'll trust yourself," he said. She chuckled. "Now. I don't lead you with my arms, I'm not pushing or pulling you around. I'm leading you with my body so let your body let me lead."

"I don't -"

"Just try it," he half groaned half laughed. He took a moment to count the beats on her waist again before restarting. One, two three. One swooping step. And he surprised her with a turn.

"I didn't fall!" she grinned.

"And my toes are intact," he smirked. One, two, turn. One, two, turn. "Are you ready?"

"What for?" she asked, slightly panicked.

Sirius raised his arm to let her spin underneath it. "Stay on your toes."

She spun successfully and was about to finish with a flourish when she lost her balance again. Sirius was able to catch her this time which created a very short moment when their faces were close together and their breathes mingled.

"I guess I really can trust you," Eilidh laughed.

He could still taste her.

"I think you're getting the hang of this," Sirius said.

"Well, it is a simple, smooth, gliding dance in a three-quarter time with a simple three beat rhyme," she said.

He couldn't fucking stop staring at her mouth.

"Or maybe I finally got a good teacher," she smiled.

"Can I kiss you?" he blurted before he could think about how stupid he sounded.

Eilidh blinked rapidly. "Er, you don't have to ask… Not with me."

"Okay," he said.

"Okay."

* * *

 *****Son of Whitebeard, thank you! I've been avoiding doing more girl chapters because we have so little cannon information about them they're really more like OC's and I know how people react to heavy OC stories. I suppose I should just suck it up and do it. We'll see :D**

 **Thank you, .2018, I hope you continue to :)**

 **BadwolfYuki, I am so honoured that you broke your habit twice for me lol I'm happy to hear that you will continue to read and enjoy. Thank you to you and your boyfriend for the compliments :D**

* * *

 *****I'm not sure if this was my intended level of awkwardness or if this is the cringest chapter you've ever read because of my intended awkwardness being enhanced by my general awkwardness around the amount of fluff I was aiming for... Anyway, if I had to spend another hour editing this chapter I would have ripped all my hair out and stared into the void contemplating why people care about romance and I don't want to go to that place again. (I'm kidding. Mostly) That being said, I will come back to this and probably gut the whole thing: I'll let you know when I do in case you want to come back and read it.**

 **Thank you for reading :D**

 **All rights reserved to those entitled to them.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	59. Erotic Romances and Romantic Gestures

**Erotic Romances and Romantic Gestures**

Lily Evans had a particular habit of getting up early to steal an extra hour of study time before breakfast. There were few people who knew this (eight in total though she only knew about four) including her dorm mates - because of an unfortunate circumstance in their second year involving a cat, a broomstick, and a potted plant - and four Gryffindor boys who only knew because of a magical map they had charmed to reveal the locations of the Hogwarts staff, prefects, and busybodies (for mischief reasons) as well as everyone they cared about and their enemies (for reasons of the heart.) Lily was on the map for a multitude of reasons and was perhaps one of the most studied. The four of them had her patterns down well enough to be able to avoid her if need be or find her, should one wish to, without the map's help. It was because of this, that Sirius, his morning alarm sounding only for a fraction of a beat, shuffled down to the Hogwarts library before sunrise, confident that he would find who he was looking for without checking the map hidden in between the pages of Peter's history textbook.

Lily enjoyed going to the library this early in the morning. It was the quietest time because really only the cats were awake enough to make any noise, so it was the perfect time to study. Through the years, every spell she conquered, ever potions she perfected, had been mastered in this very room. If she wasn't studying, she was thinking. In first year, when she discovered how great the early morning library was, she would mull over her sister or her new friends and, on occasion, James. Second year was mostly about why people choose to have toads for a pet and what effect they had on the mind, that was the year she met Adrian Longbottom. Third and fourth year, her mind became increasingly preoccupied with James Potter as he was steadily ingraining himself into her life despite her efforts to stay away from him. There was something about him that she found entirely unnerving. However, this morning she decided to surprise herself.

She went to the library for the sole purpose of studying. There was a Transfiguration spell that she was having trouble with and she'd rather not let James Potter have the satisfaction of concurring it before her. But her subconscious was obsessing over Eilidh and with Eilidh, for the time being, brought Sirius Black. She spent the morning wrestling between Transfiguring a Hedgehog into a pincushion and reasoning what Eilidh Nicnevin saw in Sirius Black. And vice versa. Then she'd spiral and wonder why Eilidh neglected to tell her that she was even interested in Sirius Black in more than a friend way. They were never the type of friends who bore their souls to each other but this was something they commonly discussed. Boys. Who was cute, who wasn't, who was boyfriend material and who was merely eye candy. Sirius Black, as of a year ago, fell under the latter - he was cute but had too many issues and was too obsessed with his friends and was too intense and so on. They had agreed on that. And then she'd pull herself back to her Transfigurations before she'd start to wonder if it was her fault if she had somehow pushed Eilidh away.

She hadn't noticed that the man himself had walked in. She had heard the door, the footsteps, and the squeaking cart, of course, but she had thought it was Madam Wren.

"Morning, Evans," he greeted, falling into the chair opposite her. This was a coincidence. Even magic couldn't let you read people's minds, as far as she knew. The realm of possibility had grown scant throughout the years.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Nice to see you too," he smirked.

* * *

"Question, if you, a professional time traveler, were in a relationship with a vampire, because they're immortal, would you go further and further back in time so you can make them fall in love with you over and over again or would you travel deeper and deeper into the future so you can prolong the experience of a 'domestic love life?'" was how Remus greeted Eilidh that morning. She was waiting for them in the common room so they could go to breakfast together and didn't even look up from the parchment she was reading upon receiving this question.

"Is there a guarantee that they'll fall in love with me again if I go back?" she asked.

"Only because this is a hypothetical situation and the question is _ridiculous,_ to begin with," Remus answered with a pointed look at James.

"Just because you don't believe in love, Moony…" James rolled his eyes.

"How can you not believe in love?" Eilidh demanded.

"It's childish to believe -"

"Do you not love your mother?" James demanded.

"That's different," Remus argued.

"No, it's not," Eilidh agreed.

"Alright, fine. What if, the only reason why we ever love anybody is because we get something out of it. We love our mother's because they birthed us and their nurturing. We love our friends because they provide companionship. We're 'in love' with our partners because they make us feel valid," Remus challenged.

"That's just… no. You're stupid," was James's well articulated rebuttal.

"Think about it. Sirius hates his mother because she's not nurturing. Friendships end because people get separated through the years but I guarantee that if you find out that I died fourty years from now you wouldn't even feel sad, shocked maybe but not sad. The only reason why we're 'in love' with our partners is because we're forced to be conjoined at the hip to them. We sleep in the same bed, our taxes, our name, eventually our biology gets mixed and we create little miniature versions of ourselves. Most of the time people start hating their partners simply because their lives are so mingled together. Face it, love is a farce, nothing but a fleeting chemical reaction," Remus finished his rant by crossing his arms and fixing them with a gloating smile. Eilidh and James blinked at him, neither quite believing what they were hearing.

"Stockholm syndrome," Eilidh said finally.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Stockholm syndrome," she repeated.

"Stockholm-"

"You come with me!" Lily interrupted Remus suddenly, coming out of nowhere and startling the three of them. She took hold of Eilidh's arm and pushed her toward the girls' dormitories. "You," she pointed at James and Remus, "keep your mouths shut."

"Stockholm syndrome isn't real love!" Remus argued as Lily continued to lead Eilidh up the steps to their dormitory.

Eilidh grinned over her shoulder victoriously, just before she lost sight of them, then she turned to Lily. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk about everything and we have to do it in the dormitory," Lily answered.

"Because?" Eilidh asked. There was nothing that she wanted to hear from Lily that she couldn't say in front of James and Remus. Anything that had to be said in private she didn't have the energy for anymore.

"Because… reasons, Eilidh, just go, we're running out of time." Lily pushed her forward rather than let her walk.

"Time for what? Lily-" Eilidh's protest was cut off by Lily shoving Eilidh into their dormitory and locking the door behind her.

"That's not creepy," Eilidh said, crossing her arms over her chest. If she had to do this, she might as well get it over with.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For being a mega bitch, for not being there for you with this Sirius thing. For cutting you off recently because of the James thing. Let's just agree to never talk about Potter," she spoke quickly, clearly in a rush, but paused to get her consent.

"Fair enough. Where is this coming from?" Eilidh asked, suspiciously.

"I've been wanting to do this for a while. I hate fighting with you," Lily said, her voice thick with emotion. She actually seemed apprehensive about Eilidh's reaction.

"I hate fighting with you too," Eilidh mumbled, her guard finally dropping. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," Lily said, pulling Eilidh in to hug her. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I was a bitch. I should have told you from the beginning," Eilidh said.

"No - oh God, okay. Enough of the blame game," Lily said sternly, pulling back but keeping a firm grasp on Eilidh's hand.

"Right, we're running out of time," Eilidh said.

"Oh, that's just 'cause Sirius can't know," Lily said. Eilidh blinked at her, not wanting to say no but she couldn't keep secrets from Sirius either. "It's like a prank."

"Like a prank? How is hiding our friendship like a prank?" Eilidh challenged.

"Well, he said if I didn't makeup with you, he'd annoy the shit out of me so I'm going to make him do it which is going to be more annoying for him because I'm not going to let him know he's annoying me," Lily explained.

Eilidh struggled to find the words to reflect how she felt about this. In the end, she wound up blinking quickly and lowering herself onto her trunk.

"God, you two are so similar, you should just date each other!" Once she found the words she couldn't stop from pacing.

"Sorry?" Lily asked.

"You and Sirius with your eye for an eye, he borrowed my quill and forgot to give it back so now I have to steal his entire ink collection. Where does it end? Where's the line? And - and with your only doing things to make other people happy. It's frustrating and stupid and I hate being on the receiving end of it," she ranted.

"Eilidh, I told you I wanted to do this for a while!" Lily defended.

"Then why didn't you? Why couldn't you have just been happy for me when I told you about Sirius? Why didn't you give me a chance to speak up for myself when it came to James?" Eilidh demanded. It wasn't so much anger that fueled her, it was colder, almost like indifference and it scared her.

"I just needed the push, I guess," Lily murmured, speaking to the vast space of floor between them. An ocean of mahogany acting the a sea of deceit, manipulation, and cowardice that really separated them. One day, this could be her and Sirius, standing across the room, unable to look each other in the eye as they said things that should have been said a long time ago. "He cares about you, that's why he does things to make you happy. Why else would he come to me?"

"Flip it back on him," Eilidh said, whispering though she didn't mean to.

"What?"

"He threatened to annoy the shit out of you if you didn't. You did so, annoy the shit out of him," Eilidh explained.

"That's… a much better plan. Simpler," Lily said.

"Less lying to friends, more to the point," Eilidh agreed.

"Eilidh," Lily began and Eilidh suddenly didn't care to hear any more apologies.

"I'm done. It's done and over with. We're friends, let's just move on and put this mess behind us," she said.

"As soon as you let me promise to be a better friend," Lily said. Eilidh groaned and rolled her eyes. There was a ritual they did, ever since second year, because apparently saying "I promise" wasn't enough. It was less of a ritual and more of a secret handshake that ended with them tangling their arms together with a vice grip on each other's hands and swearing on their friendship and the sanctity of their dormitory that went like this:

"I, Lily Evans, swear to be a better friend to Eilidh Nicnevin or may I be barren and hairless by morning."

"And I, Eilidh Nicnevin, swear to include Lily Evans in all my affairs however trivial I think they may be -"

"That's really not necessary," Lily protested.

"Or," Eilidh continued, grinning as she spoke, "may I awake to find James Potter standing naked in my dormitory."

"You are so childish!" Lily grumbled, striding out of the door.

"This entire ordeal is childish," Eilidh argued.

"It's a sacred part of our childhood," Lily returned.

"I'm sensing a theme here," Eilidh said.

Lily laughed and although James stood waiting for Eilidh in the common room, Lily stayed with her throughout the day and remained civil. There was only a small amount of tension as Lily very politely responded to James's attempt at entertaining her. Sirius pretended that Lily's presence was part of their regular routine instead of being an unexpected innovation while Peter stared around in disbelief while trying to catch their eyes, which led Eilidh to believe that Sirius's act of confronting Lily was done of his own accord. Even better, he greeted Eilidh with a kiss on her cheek and continued to hold her hand during their ascent to the Great Hall.

It floored her. Everything was looking up after a long time of endless beatdowns and she couldn't help but express it. It did earn her a few curious looks whenever she grinned or exchanged fleeting glances with Mary and Marlene at something that would be otherwise casual. It was because of this that she greeted the morning post with perhaps more dread that she would have on any other morning.

It was the first of December and it had been exactly thirty days since her mother's last letter so that meant that when the owl dropped the letter in front of Eilidh it would contain her christmas plans. She watched owl after owl swoop in with such anxiety that she hadn't realised the force with which she gripped Sirius's hand, misdirecting his attention so James was able to pour salt into his porridge unnoticed.

And there it was. An envelope made of thick, off white parchment, marked with handwriting so pristine and unflawed it was almost mechanical when it formed her name:

Eilidh M. Nicnevin

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Great Hall.

"What is it?' Sirius asked. Her friends had grown quiet while she had sat staring, too afraid to open a damn letter.

"Nothing. Just a letter from home," she shrugged nonchalantly as she packed the letter away in her rucksack for later. She smiled and signalled for them to re-engage in conversation. Mary was quick to accommodate, telling a story from her arithmancy class Eilidh had already heard. The professor had thrown a piece of chalk at one of his sleeping students who woke up so suddenly he fell out of his chair. She listened anyway trying to drown out the irritable itch in her brain that wondered at what was in the letter.

"Could be important," Sirius whispered, low enough so only she heard. Eilidh shook her head. "Come on," he gestured to the exit. "They'll think we're going for a snog or something."

She really couldn't take another second of the letter sitting in her rucksack unopened, containing the answers to what her holidays would be, so she stood with him and ignored James's "Oh, where are you going?" remark with his stupid smirk and playful wink. She only half waved in response to her brother's "Good morning."

She had been planning on locking herself in a toilet but the broom closet Sirius chose was fine. It was oddly comforting to be in a confined warm space, and there was less of a chance of someone walking in.

Under the light of their lit wands the waxed seal emblazoned with the Nicnevin crest looked so much more regal. It would be a crime to break it, really. And ripping her mother's expensive parchment was disrespectful. There was simply no way she could get into the letter.

"You read it," she said, passing the letter to Sirius. "Not aloud, just tell me if it's good news or bad news."

She waited, holding both Sirius's wand and hers but that was a good thing, she supposed, because then she couldn't fidget. Her feet, however, knew better. They danced, twisted, and curled as she gnawed on her lip, half wanting to rip the letter out of Sirius's hands and read it herself.

"I honestly don't know how you're going to take this," Sirius said, handing the letter back to her.

"Just tell me," she requested, passing the letter back and forth between her hands, wearing the parchment thin.

"Someone sends their best. And 'the aunts' think it best for you to stay here with us for Christmas," Sirius said, then added after a pause during which Eilidh could only blink at him, "like, here at Hogwarts with me and James."

Eilidh opened the letter, needing to read the words herself.

Eilidh,

Sentamu says to send his best. He's too ill to write to you himself but he mentioned something about an assignment. You'll have to ask him yourself in a fortnight.

The aunts and I have agreed that it would be best for you to stay at Hogwarts. We're throwing a Christmas party and it would be easier if you were out of the way for propriety's sake.

Keep an eye on Lucas for me. He mentioned something a little harrowing in his last letter.

Happy Christmas.

Eilidh read and re-read the letter three times. She had always wondered why her mother had let her muggle father stay in her life. Why she had been allowed to visit him for Christmas and during the summer holiday, without a word against it, not once, even while she had remained so adamant about keeping Eilidh's true heritage a secret. Wouldn't it have been more prudent to keep her away from that world? It would have been easy to do. Realistically, if her mother had been smart, she could have kept Eilidh away from her father at six and she would have no memory of him now. But Eilidh knew her mother. She knew her mother was superstitious enough to believe that any real pure blood could take one look at her and know the truth.

"So, do you think your brother's being bullied? What else could be harrowing?" he asked.

"He's had trouble before, its erm," she stuffed the letter back in her rucksack and straightened her hair before she realized he was staring at her expectantly. "It comes with the territory. People hate werewolves just like they hate half bloods and muggle borns. It's just -"

"Hey," Sirius took her hand and firmly held eye contact. "Your mum's just trying to protect you."

"My mother is hiding me away so she doesn't have to deal with the repercussions of the mistakes she made in the past. She separating me from her friends because I'm half and they're pure. There's no protection, she's too selfish for that." Eilidh didn't know where it came from but suddenly the truth came gushing out of her. She clamped her mouth shut realising her mistake.

"Okay. Well, even if that's true, you're still going to stay with us. James loves Christmas and you know his moods are contagious. You'll have fun, I promise, and Sirius Black never breaks a promise," he said earnestly.

"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" she laughed, trying to seem nonchalant like her earlier rant didn't happen.

"That is so far from the point, Nicnevin, it's harrowing," Sirius said.

"Why are you so stuck on that word?" she asked.

"I don't know, it's a weird word. And fortnight. And who the hell is Senmu and what are the aunts?" he asked and she laughed feeling significantly lighter. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I mean I've got you and James for Christmas and all the world's a stage so - Jesus, Mary, and - did you put veritaserum in my tea? I'm fine Sirius, I'm just disappointed," she said, honestly.

She was not the kind of person that inflicted her problems onto everyone else. She would deal with this calmly and privately in the sanctity of her own four-poster. She shouldn't have even agreed to let him take her into this closet to read the letter.

"Eleutheromania," she said suddenly and a little randomly but she had a sudden idea that she hopped would successfully change the subject. Sirius, of course, looked questioningly at her. "It's a weird word. Eleutheromania means the need for freedom. The manic need for freedom. It's a good word."

"That is a good word," he smiled. "Is there a word that means I wish you would tell me about the impressionable aunts and this Senmu?"

"Sentamu. Olaudah Sentamu is a werewolf who lives with us. The aunts aren't actually aunts, well not all of them, they're just the women in my family who didn't inherit the family business so they act as… like the board of governors. Traditionally, they're older unmarried women, but Althea's mother participates so screw tradition," she chuckled, and smiled brightly because that's what people do when they're fine. Sirius's smile was sympathetic, because he knew she wasn't. He took her hand and led her out.

He was careful to keep her in his peripheral vision throughout the day, a feat that did not go unnoticed by not only Eilidh but her friends as well.

"You and Sirius seem closer than ever," Marlene smiled, knowingly. At this point Eilidh wouldn't have been surprised if James had told her everything he knew.

"Yeah, well, all we needed was a moment to ourselves," Eilidh shrugged.

"That's got to be difficult when his friends are all glued to him like he's their life source," Lily grumbled, clutching a crumpled up piece of parchment while she searched for the right angle to throw said parchment and hit Sirius and not James. Eilidh took the parchment from Lily and threw it for her, she was sitting in an aisle seat so it was easier but, she made it very clear that it was from Lily and not her.

"You're -" Sirius started but seemed to be at a loss for words. "Professor McGonagall!"

"No, what are you doing?" Lily hissed, got up to snatch the parchment away but McGonagall came to quickly. She sunk back into her seat with her head down, glaring at Sirius out of the corner of her eye.

"I found this on the floor, figured you could recognise the handwriting," Sirius said, innocently.

McGonagall glanced at the parchment, crumpled it up then said, "get back to work, Black," before strolling away. Lily was hunched low over her Hedgehog, making an unsuccessful attempt at using her hair to cover her blush.

"What did you do?" Eilidh asked.

"Nothing," Lily smirked.

"When I said annoy him I didn't mean bully him," Eilidh sighed. "I'm not going to help you if you're going to be mean."

Lily looked up, her blush fading to a slight pink, and stuttered out a few coy words, "I'm not being mean, that was supposed to be funny. It's not my fault he's sensitive," she argued.

"What's going on?" Marlene asked so Eilidh told her. After Marlene expressed her disagreement with purposefully annoying people, she suggested that Lily try a subtler approach. Which eventually led to Lily hexing him by Potions so his fingers wouldn't be able to grip anything.

"What the hell, Evans?" Sirius demanded, finally noticing her sniggering.

"Just having a bit of fun, Black, no need to be so sensitive," she said. Sirius glowered at her, clearly fighting the need to rip into her and having to physically bite his tongue to do so.

"Lily reads romance novels," Eilidh announced. It was a secret shared and giggled over between the Gryffindor girls and she did feel a little bad about having outed it but she needed to level the playing field. Everything Sirius had was too harmful to be an appropriate rebuttal to Lily's antics and Lily wasn't likely to stop anytime soon, she was having too much fun. However, she wasn't doing anything now but glaring at Eilidh as the boys sat in stunned silence and the girls anticipated an explosion.

And then Sirius snorted.

"Like the stuff that mums read?" James asked, trying to hide his smirk.

"Yup," Eilidh nodded.

"Tell them about Mr Sexy," Mary prompted.

"Oh, Mr Sexy is the classic hero, isn't he Lily?" Eilidh asked, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

"He's not - this is ridiculous. I can't believe you told them! I'm never going to hear the end of this," Lily grumbled and crossed her arms but didn't pull away.

"Why is he called Mr Sexy?" Remus asked.

"Because he's all chiselled and gruff and manly," Marlene said.

"But he's sensitive and he has his weak spots," Mary added.

"He oozes charisma and confidence. Women want him, men want to be him," Eilidh started. "Then the love interest, Victoria, the damsel in distress, is a purely innocent woman, practically a child, with weak ankles. She falls directly into Mr Sexy's arms and the two are instantly in love. He is her love sick slave, she his dearest divine. Until the villain, Victoria's evil betrothed, whisks her away and forces Victoria to marry him. But then, the plot twist, Mr Sexy, sexily sweaty and panting from his journy he made on a horse, comes for Victoria at just the right moment, before the villain can seal their marriage with a kiss -"

"No, he came when the minister asked if anyone had any reason for them not to be married," Lily reminded.

"Do not interrupt my dearest divine," Sirius argued. Lily scowled at him so Eilidh powered through.

"Then, Mr Sexy declares his love for Victoria in the most romantic and poetic way any woman would fantasize about," she sighed for dramatic effect. "Then Mr Sexy has to fight his way through the villain's guards, because obviously he's got guards, he's a villain. But Mr Sexy is so vallient that the only peson who ends up dying is the villain, and that was by accident because he fell out of a window. Then Mr Sexy whisks Victoria away and they ride off into the sunset, share one last kiss, and they live happily ever after. See Remus, love is real," Eilidh told him, with her hand over her heart, wiping away tears that weren't there. James clapped then Peter started clapping then Professor Slughorn told them to focus on their work. They all laughed quietly but allowed the subject to drop until Lily started stealing Sirius's quills.

"That was the most romantic story I've ever heard, my dearest divine," Sirius said, otherwise pretending to not have noticed his missing quill.

"I'm glad you liked it, Mr Sexy, maybe Lily will let you borrow the book sometime," Eilidh suggested.

"Oh, I'd much rather live it. We could ride off into the sunset together! All I need is to find a horse," he smirked.

"Alright! I give up. But the next time you threaten me, Sirius Black, I'll do more than hex your fingers," she snarled, scooping up her work station and moving it to the next table.

"Farewell, my love, parting is such sweet sorrow," Sirius waved.

"You threatened Lily?" James asked.

"Sorry, did you just quote Shakespeare at me?" Lily demanded.

"Er…." Eilidh had never seen Sirius look as if he wanted to run before, she found it funny.

"Sirius likes romance novels too," Lily declared.

"Shakespeare isn't the same thing," Josie argued.

"Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet?" Marlene countered.

"What's wrong with Romeo and Juliet?" Mary asked.

"You threatened Lily?" James repeated.

"I just said she would have a hard time getting rid of me. You know, because she thinks I'm annoying," Sirius explained.

"I reckon she's right, you are annoying," James said.

"James, relax, he didn't threaten to hurt her," Remus said.

"And I wouldn't," Sirius swore.

"Do you really like Shakespeare?" Peter asked, grimacing a little.

"I - he's not - shut up, Peter, you're favourite pet is the goldfish," Sirius said.

"Mate," Remus said, grimacing.

"Hey, Mr Sexy's gotta be well read, how else is he going to poetically pronounce his love?" Eilidh defended.

"You really don't mind Shakespeare?" Sirius asked.

"It's a lot better than the Mr Sexy chronicals," Eilidh told them.

"Why is it called the Mr Sexy chronicals?" Remus asked.

"Because, Lily charmed the books so we can't read the titles but all the covers have shirtless, muscular men on them so… Mr Sexy," Eilidh shrugged.

"So wait, that whole ordeal…" James asked.

"It wasn't completely a lie, it was just a mix of the most memorable moments," Eilidh told them.

They took a moment to reflect on this.

"Sometimes I wish we could break into the girls' dormitory," James said.

"It's just a bunch of tampons and hair," Eilidh shrugged. "It's still cleaner than your dormitory. Smells better."

"We have our reasons," James defended.

"Yeah, the house elves, I've heard," Eilidh said. "You're all getting scented candles for Christmas."

"I like scented candles," Remus said.

"How is that any better than Shakespeare?" Sirius demanded.

"You can't smell Shakespeare, Sirius," Remus hissed.

"That's not -" James started.

"Don't go there," Peter implored.

"Dead bloke would probably smell better than your dormitory," Eilidh argued.

"You're being ridiculously overdramatic," Sirius told her. "Hey, mates, we should clean our dormitory tonight."

James and Peter groaned. Remus looked a little relieved. Eilidh laughed at the lot of them.

* * *

 *****Thank you Love Fiction 2018 :D**

* * *

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 **I might have gotten a little carried away with this one but I had fun and hopefully, you did too.**

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 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	60. Curses

**Curses**

The tension in the room was thick and nearly suffocating. It grew at a steady pace as James worried aloud, seemingly oblivious about their current predicament, and Sirius ground his teeth and broke his quills while he attempted to drown James out by listing the uses of Valerian root. Peter sat curled up on his bed, staring out of the window, appearing serene but Remus was able to pick up on the negative emotions boiling inside him. His own emotions fed on James's anxiety, on Sirius's cataclysmic irritation, on Peter's fear, anger, defeat, and it festered and festered until he thought he would break. And then a knock sounded at the door and everything froze.

They hadn't been expecting anyone. Eilidh was off with her reinstated girl friends. Frank was off with Alice. Cresswell was burying himself in finding a temporary replacement for James. Gabe Pevensie was Gabe Pevensie, he didn't come knocking on your door, you came to him. All of their friends were accounted for, so unless there was an emergency…

The four of them exchanged glances. Peter stood. Sirius set down his quill. James crossed the room and kicked a pile of dirty socks away from the door.

"Professor?" James, sounding relieved, quickly angled himself behind the door to cover his naked torso and subtly angling the door so their professor couldn't see the state their room was in.

"Good afternoon, Mr Potter," Professor McGonagall greeted politely, "the Headmaster has requested that Peter Pettigrew visit his office."

Something broke. He heard the glass shatter in the way Sirius turned back to his Potions homework, in the way that Peter paled and swallowed, in the way that James faltered for half a beat.

"I'll - I'll er… just get him then." James slammed the door closed, his smile wide.

"You just slammed the door on Professor McGonagall," Remus said, attempting to distract Peter with something potentially humourous. James chuckled nervously.

"My mum's going to send me to a muggle school," Peter murmured, lowering himself onto the edge of his bed.

"Why would she do that?" Sirius asked, the idea clearly strange to him.

Peter turned to glare at him. "Because you got us into that fight with the Slytherins," he spat with much more venom Remus ever thought he was capable of.

"What does your mum care about Slytherins?" Sirius asked, in an attempt to make the problem seem less that it was, possibly to calm Peter down, more possibly because he was too zoned in on his own bad mood to care about Peter's.

"She cares because I'm going to the Headmaster's office and getting in trouble again for something you made me do!" Peter yelled. Sirius looked at Peter blankly. "Not that you care," Peter continued on in bitter mutterings, angrily throwing things into his rucksack. Sirius's eyes followed him around the room, making no attempt to protest. "Why would you? With me gone you won't have to worry about me ruining your fun. You and James and Remus can run about the castle without this old lump following you around." Peter slammed the door behind him despite a sock getting caught in the door jamb.

James turned to look at Sirius. Sirius turned back to his Potions homework.

"Mate," James said, "I don't know what's going on with you -"

"What do you want, James?" Sirius demanded, every muscle in his body visibly tensing.

James's jaw locked, his shoulders squared as he fought for his own self-control. He closed his eyes, exhaled slowly, and turned to leave.

The only sound that could be heard in the room was an ugly bird call, a quill scratching along parchment, and Remus's heartbeat.

He had to sit down.

Sirius wasn't going to like this.

"So, what happened?" he asked.

"You were already told what happened," Sirius said.

"I meant between you and James," Remus said.

Sirius said nothing. Remus fought over waiting him out or coming up with a way to convince him that talking about it would be good for him.

"James did something," Sirius said. "Something bad that I participated in. Maybe it was for the better but I can't… I don't know how to not feel guilty for it. I don't know how to not blame James."

Remus was well acquainted with this feeling."Did anyone get hurt?" he asked.

"I guess not," Sirius shrugged.

"Was it for the better?"

Sirius sighed almost as if it were difficult for him to breath. "I don't know."

Remus stuffed his hands into his pockets feeling awkwardly helpless.

"I'm sure it was," he said, "James operates on principle."

"But what are his principles?" Sirius asked.

"You must be utterly oblivious if after four years you really don't know," Remus said.

"There's something else," Sirius said, reluctant and turned around to face him. "He's been different since the Slytherins. Reckless. Pevensie's party right after his concussion. He snuck out last night. He's stealing from Dumbledore just to organize some stupid date."

"Is all that really so different?" Remus challenged.

"Before there was a reason for the risks he took. Now… what's the reason for all that?" Sirius analyzed him, quickly realising that Remus remained unconvinced. "You don't know what he did," he muttered, turning away.

Remus didn't want to know, he didn't even wonder what James could have done to fracture Sirius's friendship. He just felt sick. The world was turning inside out and crashing around him, while he sat in the eye of the storm, worrying about full moons.

"That's just what happens when people get hurt, Sirius when they're afraid. Especially if they've never had it that bad. These kinds of things bring out the worst in people and if this is the worst in James I'd say we're pretty lucky," Remus said. "He just needs his friends right now. He'll be back."

Sirius paused. He was fighting with himself. Remus could almost hear the wheels turning in his head.

"What if it's something more?" Sirius asked.

"What -" Remus started.

"What if," Sirius continued, "what if the concussion was more than a concussion. The coma wasn't a coma, not really. I've been thinking it over and something doesn't add up."

"What else would it be? Madam Pomfrey -" Remus started.

"Madam Pomfrey didn't say coma," Sirius said, pronouncing every syllable. "She did say curse." Sirius paused to let his words sink in. "I don't think she meant for me to hear it but she said she wanted Haas to come see if James was cursed into the state he was in. Said she didn't want to pull him out of it if he was."

"So?" Remus asked.

"So, she never did pull him out of it. She never said what Haas said. She never said coma," Sirius said firmly, almost begging.

"She would have to tell -"

"She'd have to tell Mrs Potter and Dumbledore, no one else," Sirius said. Of course, they wouldn't want to tell them. They would react horribly, impulsively, explosively, in a much bigger way than a stupid fight in the dungeons. "There's something else that doesn't make sense. Why would they interrogate Eilidh? Haas did it after he examined James. He made Eilidh think it was her fault."

"Eilidh gave him a calming draught when he was concussed; if it wasn't a curse it makes sense that -"

"If it wasn't a curse then why wouldn't Pomfrey pull him out of it?"

"Maybe she couldn't. Magic can't do everything," Remus said.

"She said she could as long as it wasn't a curse. Remus!"

"Okay. All right. It's plausible that it was a curse."

"It was a curse," Sirius said certainly and defiantly.

Remus tried to think of any other reason why Madam Pomfrey would choose to not wake James up. He couldn't, but he wasn't ready to admit it.

"Have you talked to Eilidh?" he asked.

"I can't!" Sirius exclaimed, startling Remus. "It would ruin everything. We have to just pretend that everything's normal."

"What are you on about?" Remus asked, bewildered. "The whole reason why we ever became friends with her is that she wanted to help stop the Slytherins."

"Oh. I haven't talked to her about that yet, no," Sirius said.

"What did you think I meant?" Remus asked but shook his head, deciding it was best if he didn't know. "She probably knows a lot about curses. Lycanthropy being a curse."

"Right, yeah, I'll talk to her. Now," Sirius said, redressing himself. "You should bring James a shirt."

"And distract him so he doesn't see you come down?" Remus guessed.

"I imagine he's not happy with me at the moment," Sirius smiled ruefully.

"I'll see what he thinks about this curse thing while I'm at it," Remus said.

"No," Sirius said quickly, "he's worried enough as it is. You saw him. Mandrakes and Lily and -" Sirius made an odd grunting noise.

"He was there. And giving him something substantial to think about will help him," Remus argued.

"The animagus thing is substantial. It's just not pressing." Sirius sighed, taking time to adjust his wristwatch. "Would you mind terribly if I took Eilidh to the shack?"

A protective growl rose to Remus's throat. He swallowed it down and stuffed his fists in his pockets. He trusted Eilidh. And she already knew. She was his friend.

"I'll make sure she doesn't know how to get into it," Sirius vowed.

"Yeah, alright," Remus said with more force than he had wanted.

Sirius nodded his thanks. "We'll meet there before curfew."

"All five of us, you mean?" Remus clarified because at this point he really didn't know.

"Yeah," Sirius said so quietly Remus wasn't sure he actually heard it, and then he was gone.

* * *

 *****Love Fiction 2018, thank you :)**

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 **I'm going on a much-needed vacation from life next week so I'll be posting again, probably on Friday -ish... maybe Thursday... we'll see how things work out.**

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 **XO**


	61. Girls' Night

**Girls' Night**

He found Eilidh exactly where she said she would be; in the chamber off of the Great Hall. There was a fireplace opposite the door and portraits lining the walls. The girls sat in front of the fire, their heads snapped to his attention the minute the door opened. The first thing that he noticed was that Persephone Machault was with them. The second thing was that Marlene was not.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, "sorry. I just…" Just what? Let Remus convince him that telling Eilidh his half-insane theory was a good idea.

"Is everything okay?" Eilidh asked, thoroughly concerned. Of course, she'd be worried. He had interrupted what she had titled 'girl's night.' It was important, especially now that their friendships were all newly reformed.

"Yeah," Sirius said, brightening, an idea striking him. "I was just wondering if you lot were hungry. I was just over by the kitchen and whatever the house elves are making smells delicious."

Eilidh squinted at him. He smiled wider.

"Well, since you're offering, Sirius, I am absolutely famished," Lily declared.

"Seconded," Persephone said, raising her hand.

"Third," Mary grinned.

"You'll probably need help carrying everything," Eilidh said, beginning to stand.

"No," Sirius blurted, then recovered, "I'm fine. They always give me a basket to carry everything when I'm making a run. I'll be back in a mo."

Sirius sprinted down to the kitchen, wondering what he would do if Eilidh ever interrupted 'boys' night.' He'd probably welcome the intrusion but this was different, he had been the wedge that separated Eilidh from her friends.

In the end, he convinced the elves to give up the biscuits they made for Dumbledore's tea, a large thermos of warmed butterbeer, and enough sandwiches to fill them twice over. He made up his mind that he would wait to discuss this with Eilidh when he discussed this with James in the shack. It would be much harder having to convince both of them at once. Especially since they had both made up their minds; James was convinced that it was hitting his head so hard when Snape had knocked him down, Eilidh was convinced that it was her fault. At least now he could come up with a plan of attack.

"Sandwiches, biscuits, and butterbeer, enough to feed an army so you shouldn't run out," Sirius said.

"What a gentleman," Lily grinned.

"Indeed. He puts Mr Sexy to shame," Eilidh smirked.

Sirius laughed. "Thank you, dearest divine. Should you need me, I'll be in the common room," he said and attempted to bow out gracefully.

"Absolutely not," Mary exclaimed, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"You can't just offer food and not join us," Machault said as if that were obvious. "It's rude."

Sirius looked to Eilidh for help.

"You're welcome to join us if you'd like," she said instead.

"Yeah, Sirius, come and protect your soot covered girlfriend," Lily said, looking at Eilidh.

"Okay, Lil, there's no need to start bragging," Eilidh, with soot-covered fingers, picked up a deck of cards that was put to the side and started shuffling.

"I wouldn't if you hadn't been so arrogant before we started," Lily said. Eilidh ignored her. "Are you sure you want to do this? I never lose! You guys must like getting your arses kicked."

The girls all laughed. Eilidh pursed her lips to keep from laughing. Sirius found a place to sit in the wide space in front of the fire between Eilidh and Persephone.

"So where's McKinnon?" Sirius asked.

"With her _mature_ friends," Lily said, sticking her nose in the air.

"She's with Alice, who she grew up with and hasn't been able to see very much because of your friend Frank," Eilidh corrected. Lily mocked her silently.

"Yeah, I heard about that," Sirius commented. "Frank's pretty hung up on her."

"I think Alice is too," Eilidh said.

Sirius would have responded had he not noticed that they were being watched by both Lily and Mary. Persephone was politely ignoring them and drinking the butterbeer straight from the thermos. He had forgotten to bring cups.

"Maybe you two should go on a double date with them," Mary suggested.

"I think they're still pretending that nobody knows about them," Eilidh said. "Who's turn is it to deal?"

Lily took the cards from Eilidh's hand. "Let's play truth or dare instead."

"Let's not," Eilidh said.

"Why? You like getting your arse kicked?" Lily challenged.

"No, because you are the most prying prat in all of Hogwarts. Bertha Jorkins included!" Eilidh poked at Lily's sides until she jumped away.

"All those in favour of playing truth or dare, say aye!" Lily raised her hand. Eilidh sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Aye!" Persephone grinned.

"Only if we promise not to dare each other to do something horribly embarrassing," Mary said.

"Sirius, tell your girlfriend to stop being boring," Lily said.

Eilidh was staring irritably at the door, almost as if she was searching for a good way out. The idea of playing truth or dare with Lily seemed ominous to Sirius so he was hoping that she was successful in coming up with something. Eilidh inhaled deeply through her nose and looked at Lily with an expression Sirius swore to himself he'd never be on the receiving end of. Lily merely smiled at her.

"Sirius, truth or dare?" Eilidh asked, her eyes still on Lily.

"Erm…" Sirius hesitated, wishing he could read her as well as he could read James. He couldn't. Should he assume that she knew him well enough to know that he would want to pick dare or should he bank on her being a risk taker and chose truth? Every eye from the portraits around him was on them. Mary and Persephone watched him expectantly. Sirius looked at his wrist watch. He didn't have time to play this game. Curfew was still a few hours away. "Actually, I can't play. Sorry but I've got plans with my friends." Lying was getting easier.

"Right, we should go," Eilidh said.

"What? Come on!" Mary protested.

"What happened to girls' night?" Lily challenged.

"We've had girls' night, now we need to study," Eilidh said, the lie coming easily to her too. "Unless you think school isn't important?"

"You suck, Nicnevin," Persephone said.

"Professionally," Eilidh whispered and winked. Mary snorted.

"I certainly hope that's not what you're leaving us for," Lily said, crossing her arms.

"Good night, Evans," Eilidh said, pulling Sirius out.

"Night, Nicnevin!"

The door was shut. He was sitting in Professor Slughorn's chair at the staff table. She kissing him. Her body heat growing closer and closer until there was nothing at all but a burning fire. She pulled away to rest her forehead against his.

"Hi," he whispered, his head spinning slightly, his stomach squirming incredibly.

"Hi," she grinned back. "Did you really have plans?"

"Not until curfew," he said.

"Okay," she said and kissed him again. This time he pulled away.

"As much as… I love the change in scenery, we are dangerously close to your friends who haven't quite warmed up to me," he said.

"You brought them food, they'll love you forever," she smiled. "But you're right. Did you have someplace in mind?"

"You have to swear on everything you hold dear that you will not let this secret out," he said.

"Where's the trust, Black?" she smirked and held her hand over her heart. "I do so solemnly swear."

"All right," he stood and pulled her by the hand towards the entrance hall. "I might have to blindfold you before we actually get there."

"Erm, why?"

"It's not my secret and I promised Remus you wouldn't know exactly how to get into it," Sirius explained, his hand on the doorknob to the castle grounds. "We're going to where he transforms. He's sensitive about it."

"How do you know -?"

"No more questions!" Sirius grinned and pulled her out.

* * *

 ***** Thank you Love Fiction 2018**

 **Son of Whitebeard, Shakespeare has always been very Sirius to me, I don't know why. :)**

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 *****I am later than I said I would be but you're still getting it early so shhh.**

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	62. The Shrieking Shack

*****Warning: Very PG-13 events in this chapter. Please act responsibly.**

* * *

It was perhaps a mistake to put a bed in the shrieking shack. To Dumbledore's benefit, he did not predict that two teenagers would steal away to snog in a place that was exclusively meant for a werewolf's transformation, and he did think that the werewolf was much more responsible than he actually was. But, indeed, it was a mistake to put a bed in the shrieking shack as three boys could account for when they saw much more of a woman's flesh than they were accustomed to seeing.  
As Eilidh adjusted her shirt with a pink tinge to her cheeks, Sirius brushed his hair back, cleared his throat and attempted to pretend that none of that ever happened.  
"All right, mates?" he grinned.  
Peter, who had closed his eyes, smiled tightly. Remus pretended to be very interested in a nail in the door frame. James, with his mouth opened in shock, was still trying to find a safe place to fix his gaze.  
"Oh dear God, there's a blindfold," he groaned, pointing to the piece of fabric that had been abandoned on the floor.  
"That's for my hair!"  
"That was for Remus's sake," said Eilidh and Sirius together, respectively.  
"You should have brought three of them."  
"Kinky," muttered Peter and James, respectively.  
"I made him promise that Eilidh wouldn't know how to get in," Remus explained.  
"Right, and she doesn't, so let's get to it, yeah?" Sirius said.  
"Mate, no offence, but I -" James started.  
"Get in here," Sirius grumbled and pulled James in.  
"I do have to sleep on that bed," Remus said, striding over.  
"You can still sleep on the bed," Sirius said, irritably.  
"Yeah but now every time I'm going to be thinking of -"  
"Oh, please don't!" Eilidh implored.  
"Yeah, don't," Sirius growled.  
"I'm not the one that was shagging on another blokes bed," Remus said, shrugging innocently.  
"We weren't shagging!" Eilidh snarled.  
"It looked -" James started.  
"We weren't!" Sirius and Eilidh yelled.  
"All right, all right, don't get your knickers in a twist," James said.  
"Too late," Peter muttered.  
James sniggered.  
"Right. You lads have a good night," Eilidh said, starting for the door.  
"No, wait. I need to talk to you," Sirius said.  
"And if you don't know how to get in, you won't be able to get out," Remus added. Sirius nodded his thanks. James made a choking noise. "That one doesn't work," Remus said.  
"Mate. Yes, it does," James said and when Remus continued to look blankly at him, "think about it."  
"If we have to think about it, it's not a very good joke," Eilidh said.  
"You're just -"  
"Mate, shut up before you get hit," Sirius said.  
"Oh, are you threatening me now?" James said.  
"I'm not talking about me," Sirius said, looking at Eilidh who was glaring at James.  
"Sorry, Nicnevin, it was just a joke," James said. Eilidh gave a partial smile and looked away.  
"Pete. What happened with Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.  
"You got sent to Dumbledore?" Eilidh asked.  
"Yeah, right after dinner. He asked about the fight then said to send you to him but James said you weren't feeling good and went to bed early so you'll have to talk to him sometime before Herbology," Peter said.  
"Okay, no detentions, no suspensions?" Sirius asked.  
"Detention for the weekend with Professor Slughorn," Peter said.  
"No muggle school for you then?" Sirius asked. Peter nodded shortly. "See. What'd I tell you? We good now?" Sirius held his hand out for Peter.  
"Yeah," Peter accepted.  
"Onto more pressing matters," Remus prompted.  
"Yes. What'd you tell them?" Sirius asked.  
"Nothing. As you asked," Remus said.  
Sirius nodded, took a brief moment to gather his thoughts, and told them everything he told Remus in their dormitory, more articulately and leaving out his doubts about James. He was not interrupted once which was strange for them, in fact, they hung onto his every word, listening with patience. In the end, Peter looked a little sick to his stomach while James and Eilidh exchanged a quick look then stared back at Sirius. It was Remus's nods of agreement that sent them into a state of confusion. Sirius simply wasn't expecting it, he didn't think that he had really convinced Remus. James and Eilidh couldn't believe that Remus would agree with such a baseless conspiracy. They exchanged looks again.  
"Sirius…" Eilidh began reluctantly. Sirius's expression changed quickly from irritants to patients. "It was the calming draught. Professor Haas -"  
"Why would Pomfrey say that she could bring him out of it if it was just the calming draught and then not do it?" Sirius argued.  
"I don't know, maybe she found something else while you were with McGonagall. You weren't allowed back in after that," Eilidh said.  
"Then why would she avoid the question when I went back to ask her about it? She all but threw me out," Sirius said.  
"When did you have time to go back and ask her about it?" James asked.  
"Yesterday morning," Sirius said.  
"I don't know, man, this all seems too complicated to me. And I think I would have known if someone put that complex a curse on me. If there is a curse like that," James said.  
"Maybe someone erased your memory," Sirius said. "I heard it's a pretty simple spell to perform, although risky."  
"Eilidh, is there a spell like that?" Remus asked, not realising the silent conversation that was passing between James and Sirius. Eilidh didn't answer, she was so focused on Sirius and James that she didn't hear Remus's question. She made eye contact with Peter and he looked away guiltily.  
"Would you lot mind giving Sirius and me a moment alone, please?" James asked politely, his voice thick with emotion.  
Remus looked from James to Sirius and back again. Peter inhaled deeply and held it in. Eilidh looked at Sirius, trying to gauge his emotions.  
"Yeah, all right," she all but whispered and she, Remus, and Peter got up to leave.  
"Peter you can stay if you want," James said.  
"I'm good," Peter said.  
"We're putting a silencing charm on the door. We won't be a minute," James promised. He shut the door carefully, performed the silencing charm, and turned to face his best friend. "What do I have to do to put this behind us?" he asked.  
Sirius half shrugged and shook his head, his mouth set stubbornly closed.  
It felt like there were oceans between them when really it was just a few planks of wood and an abused chair.  
"If I could go back and do it again -"  
"You'd do the same thing," Sirius said, "as you said you would that night."  
"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. I'd go back and do it all over if it meant that we didn't have to be like this!" James said, gesturing to the space between them.  
"Oh, so I'm the arsehole then?" Sirius snarled.  
"Mate," James said then let out a noise in between a groan and a yell. He massaged the back of his neck and told himself that it would be childish to kick the chair out of anger even though his leg muscles convulsed at the thought.  
"There's nothing you can do to fix it," Sirius said.  
"Great, so we're just going to be like this now? All our years of friendship down the drain because some girl you didn't care about a few months ago lost two minutes of memory?" His emotions were fighting to be let out pressing against every fibre of his being and wouldn't stop until he burst. James clenched his first around the ghost of his broomstick wishing he could fly for hours through the bitter cold. He willed his feet to stay planted to the ground, wishing he could run through the forest, his feet pounding against wet leaves and snow patches. His heart beat like it would if he were doing either.  
"It's not about her! This is about you. And what you did to save your own skin. You're no better than the Slytherins," Sirius said. "You didn't even give her a chance to be okay with it. And you know what, maybe it is a little about her because the most fucked up thing about this is she thinks you're her friend…"  
James felt nothing. For once in his life, everything was radio silence.  
"Maybe she is. Maybe this is how you treat your friends. What's going to happen to me when I hear something I'm not meant to? Or Remus? Or Peter?"  
James shook his head. "I wouldn't..."  
Sirius rubbed his brow bone with the tips of his fingers. "I don't know what to say anymore. Do you honestly not see that what you did was wrong?"  
James opened his mouth to say something, realised that he didn't have anything to say, and closed it again.  
Sirius laughed humorously. "Fucking hell, James."  
"I was protecting us. I was protecting her!" James argued.  
"Her?" Sirius grew flustered. He brushed his hair out of his face and sat on the bed. "You didn't give her a chance to be okay with it."  
"And what's the best outcome of her being okay with it? She'd want to join us? She'd, by some miracle be fine with not joining us and have to keep our secret?"  
"So you steal her memories!"  
"It was two minutes of her life!"  
"Exactly!" Sirius was on his feet again. "You stole two minutes of her life. Two minutes that could have made her who she is."  
Something sparked inside of James. Then the guilt hit him. He sat down in the abused chair, it creaked under his weight.  
He had killed two minutes of Eilidh Nicnevin, his friend, without giving her a chance.  
Another wave of guilt hit him like a punch to the gut from the biggest of Slytherins. He thought he might vomit.  
This was Eilidh Nicnevin who cried when he was in the Hospital wing. She took his side against her best friend. She fought a seventh year for him after a less than a month of knowing him. He should have, at the very least, given her a chance. What the hell was he thinking? He wasn't obviously.  
"Should we tell her?" James asked.  
"No, we can't tell her!" Sirius yelled. He paused to listen at the door. James cradled his head in his hands.  
"Should we at least tell her about the plan?"  
"No," Sirius growled.  
"We have to do something!" James exclaimed.  
"We can't do anything," Sirius said, slowly. "We pretend it didn't happen. We don't want something we say or do triggering her memory, we don't know what could happen. What if we fucked up her head or something?"  
"Oh, shit," James winced as another wave of guilt hit him.  
"Yeah, oh shit's right," Sirius said bitterly. "Now, you can't fucking tell me that you're acting like yourself."  
"What you think this has something to do with the curse?" James asked.  
"Maybe," Sirius shrugged.  
"Mate, there's no curse, to begin with."  
"So this was all you?" Sirius challenged.  
"Yeah," James breathed, adding the hole in his chest.  
"No. I refuse to believe - I'm going to continue looking into this with your help or not," Sirius said, fiercely.  
"I'll help but I don't thi-"  
"Yeah, I know what you think. Let's go I can't talk about this anymore," Sirius said.  
James grabbed his arm to stop him from opening the door. "Mate, I really am sorry. If there's anything I can do to make this right…" James dropped his hand because really there was nothing he could do. "If there's anything I can do for Eilidh, let me know."  
"Yeah, whatever," Sirius grumbled, half opened the door, then pulled it closed again. "Actually, her brother might be getting some shit for the werewolf thing. Look into that while I look into this?"  
"Okay. What's his name?" James asked.  
"Lucas. Ravenclaw, second year."  
"He might be friends with your brother," James shrugged.  
"I really don't know and at this point, I hope he's not," Sirius said, quickly, and abruptly walked out. It was both the end of the conversation and the end of an era because nothing would ever be the same again. They were stuck in a codependent relationship built on trust, loyalty, and violence. The violence was steadily increasing. The trust was slowly being chipped away. Their loyalty was all they had left to rely on.  
James reached the bottom of the stairs moments after Sirius. He was already wrapped around Eilidh's waist, his chin resting on her head while they laughed at something Remus said. He wanted to hug her himself, and apologise and beg for her forgiveness, but Sirius was right, they needed to act like everything was normal. Eilidh would never be able to trust them again if she found out, he knew by the way she looked at him when he took his place beside her - there was nothing but trust and maybe even love when her eyes met his. It warmed him and made him sick to his stomach.

* * *

 *****I'm back :D Hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	63. Josie

**This is my longest chapter yet and it is a school night so read at your own risk**

* * *

Josie Archer was a strange case. To the untrained eye, she was the very definition of a swot. The truth was, behind the judgmental glares, the studying until she literally went mental, Josie was a person - she had good and bad qualities and was very tempted to break every rule put in front of her. She was a supportive and loyal friend. She could sometimes speak harshly but that was only because she was passionate about her beliefs and opinions. She was also an extremist who was driven by her need for her parents' attention and approval. So she studied and studied hard to be the best at everything she did and when that didn't succeed in getting a big thumbs up from mum and dad she chose a much different path. What came from occasionally skiving off classes to spend the day laying in bed or mouthing off to her teachers or colouring her hair and piercing her nose, changed into something else entirely. Something even Eilidh wasn't sure of. She was afraid that Josie might do something actually stupid this time.  
She, of course, had no idea where it had come from, the switch was as unpredictable as every other time. It started out like a normal day. Lily was already up and out doing whatever it was that Lily did so early in the morning, Marlene had ripped open their curtains to surprise them with the full force of the sun while she sang merrily and happily, Mary had groaned attempted to get up but decided against it, Eilidh hadn't even bothered to respond and merely pulled the covers over her head, Josie whimpered, rolled out of bed, and made her way to the bathroom. Later Josie and Marlene would team up and pull Eilidh out of bed while they ignored her inappropriate language and empty threats.  
After a good shower turned Eilidh into the semi-sweet and cheerful person she usually was, they would walk to the Great Hall, arm in arm, to meet Lily for a cup of tea while they waited for breakfast to appear.  
"Morning," Lily grinned. As usual, Lily was already on her third cup of tea.  
"How was the library?" Eilidh would ask with a conspicuous note of disbelief. Not even Josie got up at who-knows-what o'clock to go to the library.  
Then Josie would ask about some assignment or something class related, in this case, it was: "Did you finish your transfigurations essay?"  
Then Eilidh would roll her eyes and give Mary that look that said 'seriously, they're worrying about academics this early in the morning?!' and Mary would shrug and give a slight smile while Lily and Josie compared their essays.  
"So, how late did you stay out last night?" Marlene asked, probably noticing the dark circles under Eilidh's eyes despite her attempts at hiding them.  
Eilidh bit her tongue, swallowing the words she wanted to say, something along the lines of, 'I'm sorry my main focus in life isn't my sleep schedule,' or 'I'm sorry I don't have a problem getting E's in my classes with less than eight hours of sleep,' or 'I'm sorry I have friends that actually like to have fun,' or 'I'm sorry my little brother needs me,' or, in this case, 'I'm sorry that I physically cannot sleep like a normal person and that you cannot understand that.' She smiled sweetly because she knew Marlene was only asking because she cared, and said "I actually went to bed early last night," and left it at that.  
Persephone joined them, as usual, shuffling her feet, rubbing her eyes, and yawning a giant yawn. "Morning ladies," she said, "how's the search going?" The search referred to Mary and Marlene actively trying to find a date to the ball. They only had a few weeks left.  
"I might be going with Amadeus Mulciber," Mary shrugged, looking as if she didn't particularly care about this prospect either way.  
Persephone wrinkled her nose. "Absolutely not," she said, "my best friend is not going anywhere with Amadeus Mulciber. I wish you'd let me set you up." It was the first time Eilidh remembered agreeing with Persephone so strongly.  
"I hate being set up," Mary protested, who had never been set up with anyone before.  
"Oh, please don't go out with Mulciber. Sev hangs out with him and everytime I get near him my skin crawls," Lily shivered.  
"He's not that bad, Lily," Mary argued. "He's a little weird b-"  
"A little weird? He's creepy," Lily grimaced. Mary sighed and gave up arguing.  
"I could set you up with someone really great," Persephone offered, smiling encouragingly.  
"I could set you up with one of my boys," Eilidh offered. "I think only Sirius has a date… and maybe James but I think you'd get along with Remus better anyway."  
Mary shook her head quickly wearing a strangely blank expression.  
"I could get you, Sturgis Podmore," Persephone said, braggingly. Eilidh fought back a snarl and turned away.  
Marlene caught her eye and smiled at her knowingly. "I think Mary and Remus would be great together," she said, loud enough to be heard over Persephone ranting about how great Podmore was. She faltered only briefly at Marlene's comment but then continued on as if no one had spoken. "Speaking of Remus, has he said anything about our study date?" Marlene asked, trying to distract Eilidh.  
"You two have study dates?" Eilidh asked, teasingly, raising an eyebrow.  
"It sounds better than me tutoring him. Most of the time I think he should be tutoring me," Marlene said. "Anyway, he's had to cancel on me a few times for whatever reason, I'm sure James and Sirius keep him busy, but he needs to catch up in potions before we move on to the next chapter."  
"I'll let him know," Eilidh promised.  
"How is Sirius anyway?" Lily asked.  
"Fine. Completely mental but fine," Eilidh shrugged.  
"Anything we should know about," Lily said, trying to seem nonchalant. She was needlessly pouring herself another cup of tea.  
"Erm, James is not at all serious about the girl he's going to the ball with. I don't even think he knows her. Pevensie set him up," Eilidh shrugged. It had been the focus of their ridicule last night, when Pevensie strutted into their dormitory without knocking, announced "Dyana Medina. Saturday, at seven o'clock. Astronomy tower. You're welcome," and abruptly left. Then Remus remembered that Pevensie had said something about him having a girl for James, and the teasing commenced until James was red in the face embarrassed and stormed out.  
"I asked about Sirius. I don't give two shits about Potter," Lily snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.  
It took all of Josie pointing out that Lily was too interested in 'Potter's' goings on for her own good, and Lily claiming it was only because she hated him so much, and Marlene pointing out that there was a very fine line between love and hate for them to realise that maybe Lily's dislike of James was more like something resembling the opposite.  
Josie hummed the wedding march under her breath.  
Lily opened her mouth to no doubt spew some scathing remark but something caught her eye and cut her off. That something happened to be a red-faced angry Severus Snape, marching over to them, looking substantially more greasy than usual.  
"What happened?" Lily asked, her eyes bulging. Eilidh and the other girls could only stare in silence. Snape was covered in head to foot in some kind of sticky oil. It dripped off his eyelashes and nose and had completely saturated his school robes.  
"I am going to be late to first period. Will you hand in my essay?" he asked, curtly.  
Lily accepted the rucksack Snape held out for her, her mouth still hanging open. Snape turned on his heels and stalked off.  
"That looked really gross," Eilidh remarked.  
"Eilidh!" Lily snarled at her.  
"To have on him! Obviously, that wasn't his fault," Eilidh defended.  
"Eilidh," Lily hissed between clenched teeth. It took only a moment for Eilidh to realise what Lily was talking about. Her boys, James and Sirius, in particular, were sitting not far from them, laughing boisterously, acting out something that looked terribly like someone having a shock than being incredibly embarrassed and angry about it.  
"I'll talk to them," Eilidh said, already on her feet. She hoped that this wasn't their fault but sincerely doubted it wasn't. She couldn't really blame them either. "Tell me that wasn't your fault."  
"It wasn't my fault," James said automatically.  
"Good. Now tell me the truth," Eilidh said, sitting down next to Sirius.  
Sirius cleared his throat and picked up his newspaper.  
"What truth?" James asked.  
"The truth about Snape. Was that your fault?" Eilidh asked, as clearly as she could.  
"No, that was his mum's fault," James said.  
"Should've kept her legs closed," Sirius mumbled. Eilidh kicked him under the table. He winced very slightly but continued to ignore her.  
"James," Eilidh said, warningly.  
"Relax. It's not going to hurt him. We found it in the hospital wing," James said, indifferently.  
"Found what in the hospital wing?" Eilidh questioned.  
"Castor oil. It's good for you," James said, earnestly.  
"As a laxative," Sirius mumbled. James snorted.  
Remus sighed heavily. "Marlene is calling me over."  
"Remus," Eilidh said, trying to sound patient and not irritable.  
"I tried to tell them to take the high road," Remus defended and quickly made his way to Marlene.  
"He put James in the hospital wing," Sirius said, defiantly. Eilidh sighed. She couldn't be angry with them, not for this, no matter what Lily said in Snape's defence. James smiled in an 'I'm sorry you're upset' way and loaded up his plate with eggs and toast. Peter looked maybe a little paler than usual and he was also supporting dark circles under his eyes. She tried to catch his attention but he was too focused on his breakfast. She turned back to Sirius, contemplated apologising for getting so upset at him for defending his friend then thought the better of it. He should have taken the high road like Remus said.  
He gazed back at her, realised that she wasn't going to say anything, flicked his newspaper, and continued to read.  
Sirius read the newspaper so habitually it rivalled her grandmother's habit of reading the bible. Miss Catherine Shaw began every morning at six with a tall glass of lemon water, two boiled eggs, and a chapter of the Ignatius version of the holy bible which, if she were not reading it, she kept in the pocket of her apron. The book itself was falling apart at the seams and had so many markings on the pages Eilidh always wondered how she was able to read a word of it. Really, it was Grandmother Shaw's fingers that showed her dedication; the soft pads of her fingertips were cut across with scars from papercut after papercut so deep they appeared constantly wet. Sirius was in the early stages of these fingers. The first three fingers of both hands were stained black with ink. His forefinger and thumb on his right hand showed signs of minor injury so regularly that the papercut he received that morning didn't even register until he saw the blood colouring the pages. He stared at the red mark with the concentration of a man trying to straighten a corkscrew with telekinesis. The newspaper, he would usually fold up and store for later use in his left back pocket, was cast aside as he looked up at James waiting for his attention.  
James, who had the habit of wearing his glasses slightly askew, favoring the left, of never brushing his hair or tying his shoes, and smirking at seemingly nothing at all, was smirking in a sort of forlorn and unconscious way, with his head resting against his hand so he could watch Remus at the far end of the table.  
Remus was exact in his mannerisms. They were rehearsed so he was never closer than four and one-half inches away from anyone else, his eye contact was forced on his part and he clearly found it difficult, but he made a strong effort to keep his nervous habits under control. He sat with his hands clenched together in his lap under the table with exactly four and a half inches of space between him and those on either side of him while he stared attentively at Marlene, who was the opposite in manners.  
Marlene liked to talk with her hands which, because of the time of day, caused the grease from her sausage to flick around in danger of landing on someone's face. Her eyes looked everywhere but at Remus while she sat so close to Josie that she might have been sitting on top of her. The contrast always made Eilidh laugh for Marlene's manners only made Remus tense up more which only caused Marlene to boisterously try to get him to relax creating a repeated cycle. At this point, she was on the verge of setting Josie off, which would cause Lily to tell her to lighten up and let people live, and Josie would snarl and Marlene would tell them to stop bickering like children, then Mary would make a feeble attempt to change the subject. Had Eilidh been there she would have ignored Mary's attempt in favour of teasing the already irate Josie.  
Indeed, Josie had just turned away from her conversation with Mary to rebuke Marlene for elbowing her in the back. Eilidh, with a heavy sigh, turned back to her boys.  
Peter was seeing how much torn up bits of parchment he could fit into James's hair without him noticing.  
"Do you think he's broken?" Sirius mused, looking amazed at James's oblivion. "I mean…" He waved a hand in front of James's face, finally shaking him out of his reverie.  
"Stop it!" he snapped, combing a hand through his hair to let the parchment fall. Peter and Sirius chuckled at each other. Before James could snap at them again, Eilidh interrupted.  
"What were you reading in the paper, Sirius?"  
"Now that James is back from planet Lily, all we're waiting on is Remus, then I'll tell you," Sirius said with a subtle and heavy look down at the newspaper.  
"Is it really that bad?" Eilidh asked. At this point, she knew that both James and Sirius only liked to go over bad news once and had often made her wait until they were all gathered before they would tell her anything.  
She found this to be especially trying. Eilidh was not a patient person and usually opted to do things on her own so she wouldn't have to wait for other people to get things done. Her increased time with the boys was nothing if not a learning experience.  
"It… things are going to change," Sirius answered carefully. It was not the response she was expecting. She was prepared for a bitter response about an incompetent Ministry or a resentful remark about the Death Eaters. This careful and ensure Sirius was unfamiliar and therefore unsettling.  
She glanced quickly at James for his opinion on Sirius's mood (he was just as concerned as herself,) then Remus to gauge his progress with Marlene. He was nodding repetitively which meant that they had reached the factual part of their discussion and that it would be quickly over. Still, she chanced a glance down at the Daily Prophet laying open between her and Sirius. An untouched crossword taking up half the page sat right in front of her, underneath was the last bit of an article on a newly discovered sea creature off the coast of the Middle East. The other page contained a large advertisement for a Celestina Warbeck concert.  
Eilidh began unconsciously bouncing her knee as she turned her attention back to the crossword puzzle. Number one across: in need of mopping. Spilt. Number six across the wandmaker's friend. Bowtruckle.  
"Eilidh," Sirius said, sounding amused, "that paper is more likely to burst into flames than it is to give you any answers."  
"Must be why its called a puzzle. I'd never thought of that before," Eilidh returned.  
"Oh, is that what you were doing? Would you like a quill?" Sirius laughed. Eilidh glared at him but his smile didn't dissipate in the slightest. He stared over her head at Remus, caught his attention, then waved him over.  
"Wow you must be special, Nicnevin," James observed, "whenever I get impatient he only tells me that patience is a virtue."  
"Only because you get impatient about things I can't control," Sirius argued.  
"Who's impatient?" Remus asked, taking a seat on the other side of Sirius.  
"Eilidh," James answered.  
"What is it Eilidh?" Remus asked.  
"Sirius is withholding information," Eilidh accused.  
"It's important. We were patiently waiting for you," Sirius said, taking up his newspaper again.  
No other words needed to be spoken. Remus was once again as stiff as a board, though perhaps only three inches away from Sirius. James turned his body so Sirius would have his full attention. Peter set down his fork and wiped his mouth as he watched Sirius expectantly.  
And Sirius began:  
"Reform at Hogwarts  
Due to the recent scandals at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (including but not limited to the sacking of the late Deputy Headmaster and professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, Corliss Danton, only three years ago) the ministry has finally decided to intervene. Parents will be delighted to hear that a ministry appointed proctor will be positioned at the school to keep their children safe. The proctor will be nominated by the Board of Governors.  
Parents would also like to hear that Albus Dumbledore will be placed under observation and a possible inquiry will occur."  
"How are they going to observe Dumbledore?" James interrupted Sirius with obvious disapproval at the news. Sirius said nothing but tossed the newspaper aside with apparent disdain.  
"I reckon that'll be apart of the proctor's job." Remus looked heavily and thoughtfully at nothing in particular.  
"What do they mean by inquiry?" Peter asked, his face scrunched up in both disgust and confusion.  
"Who the hell cares about that berk, Danton? He was a shit teacher," Sirius grumbled, pushing his plate away, evidently losing his appetite.  
"Dad liked him," James defended halfheartedly.  
"A lot of people did. He started here right after Professor Dippet retired. The Headmaster before Dumbledore," Remus explained at his friends' questioning looks. "They trusted Danton almost as much as they trust Dumbledore. Or used to trust Dumbledore, at least."  
"It's not like he could continue teaching!" Sirius protested. "He fell asleep in the middle of his sentences. He rarely graded anything despite everything we turned in. And -"  
"He told you off for setting Bellatrix's rucksack on fire?" James said, smiling knowingly.  
"He defended my insane cousin," Sirius returned with less mirth than he had received. "What was Dumbledore supposed to do? He couldn't work and this isn't a retirement home."  
"Wonder who they'll nominate as the proctor?" Peter mused. Sirius scowled at him, offended at his lack of sympathy for Dumbledore.  
"Well, Dumbledore has to report all the crazy to the Governor's, right? So probably an auror. That's their job, to catch dark wizards," James said, looking to the others for their agreement.  
"If they can spare one, I suppose. But, I think, things are too intense outside of school for any of them to waste time on a thing like this," Remus said smartly.  
"Right. This is probably just the Ministry trying to make it look like they're being productive. Reform at Hogwarts," Sirius scoffed, finding his appetite again and angrily stabbing at his eggs with a fork.  
Eilidh couldn't help but think this might be a good thing. With a proctor here to monitor the halls and maybe even question students, their current Death Eater infestation might come to an end or at least bring their plans to a slow crawl.  
"Remus, ask your dad to volunteer," James said. Remus looked at him questioningly. "Volunteer to be the proctor. Better one of our parents than one of theirs." James tilted his head in the direction of the Slytherin table.  
"It didn't say that they were asking for volunteers," Remus murmured, taking up his goblet of pumpkin juice.  
"Yeah, but, the Governors are going to have to nominate someone and your dad used to work for the Ministry, didn't he? Maybe if he calls in a few favours they might take him into account," James argued. Remus shrugged and took a long drink from his goblet like he was waiting for someone to fill the silence that had fallen. His friends, however, were accustomed to his methods to avoid questions he didn't want to answer so Remus was met with four faces looking expectantly at him.  
"He's erm, he's had a hard time finding jobs recently and he's a bit sensitive about the subject," Remus mumbled, his head bowing lower and lower until he was making eye contact with his breakfast cereal.  
"But that's perfect!" James exclaimed, making Remus jump.  
"Being a Ministry appointed proctor will be much more secure than taking up odd jobs," Sirius said, trying to sound casual.  
"And it'll probably pay more," Peter added.  
"We'll help you write to him. Eilidh too. Woman's touch, you know," James said excitedly.  
Eilidh smiled kindly at him but otherwise kept her opinions to herself. She trusted James to know where the line was with his friends.  
"Wait, no. This can't - that's not the only reason," Remus sputtered, his face growing red out of embarrassment, then, "if they ask why he left the Ministry in the first place he'll have to lie or tell the truth and I'm not registered."  
"So, we'll help him come up with a lie too. And dad still has connections at the Ministry so that'll help. And Sirius - er Eilidh probably has connections," James said, his mind already stubbornly made up.  
"Oh, that'll be great," Remus muttered sarcastically. "The Nicnevins defending the father of a…." Remus's eyes swept the Hall with such acute vigilance the Ministry might as well have been sitting next to them. "What about your father? Why can't he volunteer?"  
"Nah, too old," James shrugged dismissively. "Really, your father is the only one that can do it."  
"Your dad's not that old," Remus argued.  
"If Mr Potter doesn't volunteer he can focus his time on getting your father appointed," Sirius said. James, evident by the look he shot Sirius, hadn't wanted this fact to be pointed out. Remus, as still as a statue, rolled his eyes and hoped that this would put an end to the conversation.  
"You'll try, yeah?" James asked, forcing Remus to hold eye contact. Remus clenched his jaw and gave a short nod. James gave a silent thank you and turned his attention to Sirius.  
"What if they mean for someone else to observe Dumbledore, someone other than the proctor I mean?"  
"Then there'll be two Ministry employees at Hogwarts. Not good for our operation but it's not horrible. It'll hinder the snakes quite a bit, won't it?" Sirius said.  
"Yeah, but… the Mandrakes," James said in a low voice, leaning closer to Sirius to be sure that he'd be heard.  
"That's what I meant," Sirius nodded, gravely.  
Eilidh had the distinct impression that she wasn't meant to hear this bit of their conversation so she politely shifted her attention back to her tea and waited until James pulled back. There wasn't much they could do with Mandrakes, nothing that was too dangerous anyway.  
"We should think worst case scenario," Eilidh announced. James's comment that one of their parents might become proctor had been gnawing at her. If an actual, full-grown Death Eater were placed in a position of power at Hogwarts… well, the thought alone was enough to fill her with dread.  
James and Sirius pulled away from each other quickly.  
"What worse case?" James asked, defensively.  
"If Remus's dad doesn't make Proctor and one of theirs does. Enough of their parents are on the Board of Governors, it's very possible," Eilidh said, trying to remain calm. How could whatever scheme he was planning with the mandrakes be more important than this?  
"Even more possible than my dad making it," Remus agreed.  
"Sirius what is it called -?"  
"Pessimist," Sirius answered James's half-spoken question.  
"Yes, exactly. You two are a bunch of pessimists. Mr Lupin will become proctor and everything will be alright. Right, Pete?" James slapped Peter on the back, issuing a noise that sounded rather painful, and smiled at him expectantly. Peter looked sick to his stomach and made a show of chewing his toast so he wouldn't have to speak.  
"Everything will be perfect," Sirius agreed for him. "With Mr Lupin here we'll be living like kings. And queen."  
"And if he doesn't get the position?" Eilidh persisted stubbornly. Sirius gave her a subtle, hard look that actually caused her to falter. Sirius was never one to let a conversation like this drop so what changed?  
"If he doesn't, then they're more likely to appoint an Auror than anyone else. We said that already," James said, his tone light but his look was just as hard as Sirius's had been.  
"You're probably right," she said, uncertainly. She looked at Remus and Peter for any sign that either of them knew what she didn't. Remus was lost in thought and absentmindedly tracing the mouth of his goblet with his forefinger. Peter was staring at his plate, still looking sick. She assumed that their optimism had been for Peter's sake. What she couldn't understand is why they would cater to him so ardently. "Maybe they'll get Mad-Eye. That'd be cool, I've always wanted to meet him," she added, her casual tone more believable now.  
"Makes sense. Hogwarts is a priority to them and Mad Eye's one of their best," Sirius said.  
"Do you think he has to take that eye out when he sleeps?" James grinned.  
"Gross, James. We're eating," Eilidh scolded.  
"He has to take it out at some point! And if he's asleep we could nick it without him-"  
"We are not doing anything to Mad-Eye Moody, James. Do you have a death wish?" Remus asked.  
"I'm just saying, it'd be cool to take a look at that eye of his," James said.  
"Why don't you just ask him?" Eilidh said, smirking.  
"I'm not asking him!" James said.  
"Haas," Sirius hissed for Professor Haas had just entered the Great Hall like everyone else who wanted to eat breakfast. He walked stridently past the Slytherin table nodding to a few students along the way. The only thing significant about this was that Sirius and Remus were dead set on believing that Haas was covering up some use of dark magic.  
Eilidh sighed audibly and exchanged looks with James and Peter. Sirius and Remus looked back when Professor Haas was comfortably settled at the staff table, just as he had done every morning since the second of September.  
"Highly suspicious," James said, raising an eyebrow and stroking an imaginary beard. Eilidh and Peter laughed.  
"Seriously," Sirius said. James, Peter, and Eilidh looked at him innocently. Sirius grumbled and threw his napkin down on the table. Eilidh touched his forearm, hoping to comfort him.  
"I think we should break into his office," Remus whispered, very seriously, leaning in so far that his tie dipped into his cereal.  
James choked on his pumpkin juice. Peter paused mid-chew to stare at Remus like he had Devil's Snare growing out of his ears.  
"That's a good idea. We're bound to find something incriminating," Sirius said.  
"Like a couple of burglars," Eilidh nodded in agreement. Sirius huffed and rolled his eyes. He was growing very irritated with her.  
"I'm in," James said, holding in a cough.  
"James!" Eilidh said.  
"It's not every day Remus Lupin wants to break into a teacher's office," James defended. "Maybe we should do McGonagall's next? I think she still has my-"  
"We are breaking into Haas's and Haas's only," Remus said, firmly.  
"But remember the charmed parchment from first year? We could copy the spell and use it on the you know what," James argued.  
Whatever the you know what was, it was important enough for Remus not to be able to come up with an argument against. He turned back to his breakfast instead.  
"Do you think we could do it without getting caught?" Peter asked.  
"Haas, yes. McGonagall, no, but James and I will take care of that one," Sirius said.  
"Dumbledore said I was on thin ice," Peter said.  
"He said the same thing to me," Sirius said, waving him off.  
"They've been saying it since second year after we crashed into those pigs on the front gate," James added.  
"Only cause Filch made such a fuss about it," Sirius said.  
"Wait, why are we breaking into McGonagall's office?" Eilidh demanded.  
The look that James gave was one of pure guilt. Sirius, however, was quicker, "We're not. James and I are."  
"It's been something they've been wanting to do since we got here. Deputy Headmistress's office. It's a pretty big notch on their rebellion post," Remus explained.  
"Exactly. Next is Dumbledore's," Sirius said. "Well, Remus already knows how he just won't tell us. We'll figure it out eventually."  
"Eilidh, I need a favour," James said quickly.  
Eilidh glared at Sirius a little more. She really, really didn't like being lied to. But she didn't point it out. She merely smiled and turned to James.  
James, who was typically fidgety, was still except for his rapidly tapping forefinger. Eilidh knew him well enough to know that whatever happened next was a ploy.  
"I need you to distract your dorm mates tonight," he said. "It's for a prank. Don't worry, you won't be affected. But I'll need you guys completely out of the tower. Maybe take them to Hogsmeade."  
"I can't just up and take them to Hogsmeade, James, and exactly how will me helping you prank my friends not affect me? They'll find out I helped you and it'll be us against them. Again," Eilidh added bitterly, towards Sirius, not James, though she didn't look at him.  
"They won't find out, we'll make sure of it. And, instead of Hogsmeade, you can tell them you're falling behind in classes and need help catching up. You know, because you've been spending so much time with your boyfriend and his very handsome, funny, charming best mate," James grinned. Eilidh always found James's smiles to be contagious.  
"I'm not saying that," she said.  
"You don't have to say all of it. Just pick one," James said.  
"No," she said, shortly, as she got up to leave. "Have fun breaking into Haas's office."  
"Where're you going?" Sirius asked.  
"To sit with my friends," she said, taking one step away.  
"Do you still want me to walk you to Arithmancy?" Sirius asked.  
"Nope," she drawled, taking another step.  
"Okay. I'll see you in Transfigurations then since you're not helping with Haas," he said.  
"See you," she said brightly. She really could have argued and probably would have had she not been so completely and utterly done with being lied to. She sat down next to Josie with a huff and rested her head on her shoulder. Josie patted her head, sympathetically, and continued eating.  
"Boys suck?" Marlene asked, knowingly.  
"How'd you know?" Eilidh moaned.  
Marlene laughed, mechanically, and said nothing.  
"Marlene does not have a very high opinion on the male sex at the moment," Mary said obligingly.  
"She didn't seem to mind Remus," Eilidh observed, checking her watch. It was almost time for class.  
"Remus Lupin is a saint and needs to be protected at all cost," Marlene argued, pointing a spoon at Eilidh for emphasis. Eilidh held up her hands as a sign of peace.  
"He does hang out with Potter," Lily said, then added at Eilidh's warning look, "even you have to admit that he's not a saint." They had decided that it was impossible for them to completely avoid the James Potter subject and maintain their friendship but they could spare their other friends from being in the middle of their drama. They'd have a very long and drawn out 'discussion' about this when they didn't have an audience.  
"James, no. But Remus is different… I wouldn't say he's a saint though," Eilidh said. After all, he was the one to propose breaking into a teacher's office.  
"Exactly," Lily said. "So, I take it the one who sucks today is Prince Charming?"  
"Prince Charming always sucks," Eilidh grumbled.  
"Professionally?" Mary smirked.  
"It was a joke!" Eilidh said, half humoured, half irritated. She was never going to live that remark down.  
"You did run off with him in the middle of girls night," Lily said suspiciously.  
"You all suck," Eilidh growled, playfully. "I'm going back to Prince Charming."  
"Prince Charming can't protect you in Arithmancy," Lily sang with a devilish grin.  
"I'm sure I can convince him to skive off. He's only got Care of Magical Creatures," Eilidh smiled, innocently, while Lily almost glared back at her.  
"You can not leave me alone in that class again," Josie protested.  
"I wouldn't. Besides we've got some plotting to do. Those boys are definitely up to something and they're not telling me what it is. It involves McGonagall's office and our dormitory," Eilidh said.  
"The fact that it involves our dormitory should be a surefire sign that you need to kick some arse," Marlene said around a mouth full of toast.  
"Agreed. I just thought you lot might want to be in on it." Eilidh shrugged and inspected her fingernails.  
"How are they getting into our dormitory?" Lily asked.  
"I don't know. They aren't telling me anything," Eilidh said.  
The bell rang and every student in the Hall leapt to their feet.  
"Eilidh, wait," Mary whispered, resting a hand on her arm. It was easy to get separated in the crowd exiting the Great Hall, Lily and the rest wouldn't even notice till they made it to class.  
"Is everything alright?" Eilidh asked. Whatever Mary's reason for holding Eilidh back was, it seemed urgent and Mary didn't usually have urgent matters.  
"Yes, of course, I just wanted to make sure you weren't upset," she said.  
Eilidh shook her head. "Why would I be upset?"  
"Because I kind of ignored you when you said you could set me up with Remus," Mary shrugged.  
"Oh, no -"  
"I just want you to know that it's not because I don't like them or because I'm taking Lily's side. I just…" Mary scrambled to finish her sentence, couldn't, sighed, and sat back down. Eilidh, very confused and now actually worried, followed her. "I need to swear you to secrecy," Mary whispered.  
"Okay," Eilidh vowed, nodded.  
"Like, you can't tell anyone this, not Sirius, not Lily, not that random bloke you met in a muggle cafe once. No one." Mary's eyes had grown wide as she gripped Eilidh's hand.  
Eilidh clenched her jaw and tried not to laugh."Absolutely no one. Got it," she said.  
Mary finally released her. She turned away and took a deep breath. "I was going out with Peter for a little bit."  
Eilidh couldn't quite believe her ears. "What?" she exclaimed.  
"He wanted to keep it a secret for some reason. I swear I wanted to tell all of you so much I could burst," Mary said, begging Eilidh to understand.  
"Okay," was all Eilidh could think to say.  
"Anyway, erm, I broke up with him and now it's really awkward and I just don't want to do that again. You know, date someone from our house. It would only be worse if I dated Remus because he and Peter are friends, so that's why I ignored you," Mary said. Eilidh couldn't believe that Mary had had an entire relationship, from start to finish, without anyone finding out about it. And Peter! Peter wasn't exactly the most subtle of people.  
"What?" Eilidh exclaimed again.  
"Please don't be mad. I told you I wanted to tell you all but he really didn't want to for some reason. We were going to reveal our relationship at the ball. But then I broke up with him," Mary rambled.  
"Mary," Eilidh said, gripping her shoulders. She had wanted to say 'what the fuck' or 'shut the fuck up' but said instead, "I'm not mad."  
Mary instantly relaxed.  
"You don't know why he wanted to keep it a secret?" Eilidh questioned.  
"No," Mary shook her head. "Whenever I asked him he'd get all weird."  
"Weird," Eilidh breathed.  
"Yeah," Mary agreed. "Promise you won't say anything?"  
"I won't," Eilidh said but she had so many questions. And she really wanted to confront Peter. "We should get to class."  
They found their friends at the foot of the stairs leading up to Professor Vector's class. Eilidh was uncharacteristically quiet as her mind swam with questions and trying to connect the string of events that could have led to Peter and Mary dating, maintaining a relationship, and breaking up without anyone finding out. James had been suspicious. He had known. Maybe he had seen something? If she hadn't been sworn to secrecy she would ask him.  
"I'm in if Persephone can join. She's awesome at this stuff," Mary said.  
"You already know I'm in," Lily said.  
It took her a moment to realise what that they had picked up their previous conversation in the Great Hall. Mary wanted Persephone to join them in pranking the Gryffindor boys.  
"You already invited her to girls' night," Eilidh told Mary. Persephone Machault wasn't necessarily the worst person to be around but she wasn't the greatest either.  
"But, you said yourself that James Potter was brilliant with schemes and strategy. We've never really had to make a plan of attack before. Persephone has and she's really good at it," Mary argued.  
"Cough, Slytherin, cough cough," Marlene said.  
"Aren't you supposed to be -?" Mary started, looking scathingly at Marlene.  
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you bitches later," Marlene grinned before skipping off to Divinations.  
"Machault can come if Josie's in," Eilidh said, feeling confident that there was nothing Mary could say to make Josie take a good chunk of time out of her study schedule. She skipped up the steps, arm in arm with Lily, and Mary immediately started on Josie.  
"Taking breaks is good for you. It improves memory," Mary argued while Josie, being well acquainted with all of their practised arguments and coercion techniques, ignored. "If you don't allow yourself to have a little bit of fun once in a while the stress is going to kill you. How do you think we're going to feel if we have to bury you before we even graduate…" and so on.  
Eilidh took her seat at the front of the classroom, glanced around at the familiar posters of formulas and symbol definitions, then began copying the notes already written on the chalkboard.  
"I hate you," Josie told her as she took the seat next to her. Eilidh looked behind her to where Mary sat with Persephone, already talking up a storm. "I told her I'd do it," Josie said, unapologetic.  
Eilidh clicked her tongue. "How are you ever going to pass your O.W.L's?"  
"Shut up," Josie said. "Doing this means I can't take that extra trip to Hogsmeade this month."  
Eilidh stared at her in disbelief. "I can't believe you were ever sorted into Gryffindor."  
"You're the one that put me in that position," Josie said.  
"Good morning class," Professor Vector said much too excitedly for both an Arithmancy class and a morning class.  
"You don't have to be a bitch about it," Josie whispered.  
"Please pass your assignments to the left and to the front and finish copying the notes on the board…"  
Class went on. And on. Until Eilidh's head was swimming with numbers and figures and probabilities and statistics. Until her head ached with the amount of information that she was taking in and couldn't possibly think anymore. The bell rang its monotonous dong dong dong and the students scattered like rats on the pavement.  
"Look, I'm sorry I put you in between me and Mary and I'm sorry I said what I did but all you had to say was no. You say it all the time, you're like the queen of no's." Eilidh said, which was a shitty way of apologising, yes, but she didn't really think she had anything to apologise for.  
"Fine. I'll start saying yes then. To everything. Fuck school. Fuck my grades. And fuck my O.W.L's!" Josie ranted, marching off in the opposite direction of Transfigurations.  
"Josie," Eilidh called after her. "Josie!"  
"She said at breakfast she forgot her Transfigurations book," Lily said. "I told her I would share but you know how she gets."  
So Eilidh nodded and pushed her worry down as they fast walked to the Transfigurations corridor on the opposite side of the castle. As usual, the boys beat them there. Not, as usual, James and Sirius were sitting on top of their desks. James spotted them, laid out in a position that was reminiscent of Burt Reynolds's famous nude photo, and grinned. She was instantly reminded of Mary and Peter; her thousands of unspoken questions made her tongue feel heavy in her mouth.  
"Morning, Evans," James said.  
"That it is," she responded, then turned to Eilidh, "I'm going to sit with Severus," and walked off to the Slytherin's side of the classroom.  
"How was Arithmancy?" Sirius asked, taking Eilidh's hand.  
"Fine," she said, tossing her rucksack into her chair.  
"Just fine?" he asked.  
"It was numbers and formulas and more numbers at eight o'clock in the morning, so yeah, it was just fine," she said.  
"Okay. Er, do you think I could steal you away from your friends for lunch, I'd like to talk to you about a few things," Sirius said.  
"Yeah, sure," Eilidh said, taking her hand back and knocking her rucksack off the chair so she could sit down.  
"Do you actually want to?" he asked.  
"As long as whatever we talk about is the truth, then of course," she said, smiling.  
"That's exactly what we're going to talk about," Sirius said, looking at her significantly as if she would know the truth just by his expression.  
He was completely barking as usual. His truth could mean one of many things. He could want to discuss the truth about Professor Haas. Or maybe it was his backwards way of saying they were going to help Remus come up with lies his father could tell the ministry. The list went on and on and at the very bottom was the truth about what Eilidh really wanted to know. She sighed and told herself that it really wasn't her business, that it was between his friends and him and that was a completely different relationship between her and him.  
"I'll see you at lunch then," she smiled, a little more honestly this time.  
"Great," he grinned and bent to peck her cheek before dashing off to Remus and Peter.  
James was still draped across her and Josie's desks. He was smirking an on-purpose, knowing smirk with a dangerous glint in his eye.  
Eilidh, reluctantly and very grudgingly asked, "what?"  
"I suppose you'll be wanting the dog house to yourselves?" James drawled. Eilidh could only assume that 'the dog house' was his accidentally offensive title for Remus's shack.  
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Get off of my desk!" Eilidh blushed furiously as she pushed James's feet to the floor. He merely laughed heartily and wickedly, it made her want to punch him and it made her smile uncontrollably. "Go to hell, Potter," she spat while he joined his friends.  
"Love you, too, Nicnevin," he cooed.  
The bell rang. McGonagall shut the door. The seat next to Eilidh remained empty.  
Eilidh looked at Mary questioningly and was met with an equally confused expression. She glanced around her, assuming that Josie was so angry with Eilidh that she didn't want to sit with her but Josie wasn't anywhere.  
The class went on. And on. Eilidh tried but couldn't take in a word of what McGonagall said. She sat slumped in her seat, bouncing her knee, and checking her watch every thirty seconds. Then every fifteen. Every ten. The bell rang.  
Eilidh was the first out of the class. She ran to the nearest lavatory. Josie wasn't there. She checked every single one as she made her way back to Arithmancy and eventually found her, curled up behind the stalls with her knees to her chest and her head in her hands.  
"Josie?" Eilidh said, approaching her slowly.  
"I'm fine," Josie said, her muffled voice still echoing around the empty tiled room.  
"You didn't come to Transfigurations." Eilidh knelt and carefully rested her hand on Josie's arm.  
Josie had been crying, her eyes were still puffy and red and her cheeks were stained with running makeup.  
"Mary made a second copy of her notes for you and I told McGonagall that you started your period and went to get a pain potion from Pomfrey. You can turn in your essay during break," Eilidh said softly. She was well acquainted with these fits that Josie would get into every now and then. Her emotions would build and build until she broke. The next few days would not be easy for the Gryffindor girls.  
"I'm really sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it at all," Eilidh said, sincerely.  
"It's not that." Josie wiped a stray tear that was leaking from her eye and sniffled.  
"Then what is it?" Eilidh asked, moving to sit beside her.  
"Nothing. I'm fine. Really," she insisted.  
"Jo," Eilidh said, the weighted word convey more emotion than anything Eilidh could have struggled to string together. Josie sighed.  
"I got a letter from home. After I wrote to them about how excited I was to come home for Christmas," Josie sniffled and roughly rubbed her forearms.  
Eilidh took one of her hands feeling a surge of empathy for Josie.  
"They're going on a business trip and won't be home. They didn't even say where. But they've hired our old nanny because they know just how thrilled we'll be to see her," Josie said, bitterly, her resentment stalling her tears and twisting her mouth into a sneer. "Maybe I'll just stay here."  
"You should be with family," Eilidh said.  
"I see the Professors more than I ever see my parents. And I'll have the library to myself," Josie argued.  
"What about your sister?" Eilidh asked.  
"She always goes to visit her old school friends," she said softly. She rested her head against the bathroom wall and closed her eyes.  
Eilidh let her rest and used the time to think hard. She wished she were James because James has access to a house where he can store all his friends for safe keeping. Suggesting that Josie stay at the Potters would only make Josie laugh and put Eilidh in a huge amount of debt with James. But she couldn't stay at Hogwarts. That was too sad. Sadder than going back home and spending Christmas with her old nanny.  
"Maybe you can spend Christmas with Lily? Or Mary, or Marlene?" Eilidh suggested, weakly, already knowing her answer would no. They both had too much pride for their own good.  
"Aren't you spending Christmas here?" Josie asked, wiping her nose on her sleeve.  
"Erm," it was with a great amount of reluctance that Eilidh decided to be honest, "no. I'm spending it with James. And the boys. They have this huge plan that they insisted I join."  
"Oh."  
It was amazing how much one word, one syllable could hurt so much.  
"Maybe there's still time for me to cancel," Eilidh said. "I'm not sure how far they've gone in solidifying their plans - there might be time still."  
"No, don't worry about it. I'll be fine." Josie smiled bravely, unable to hold eye contact.  
"Will, you at least talk to Lily and everyone about this?" Eilidh pleaded. Josie was worse than she was when it came to dealing with things on her own.  
Josie sniffled and clambered to her feet. "Yeah, of course."  
Eilidh watched her carefully, trying to figure out what she would do next.  
"I'm tired. Think I'll go back to the dormitory and take a nap. Cover for me?" Josie was already out the door before Eilidh could answer let alone stop her.  
"Jo!" Eilidh ran after her, looked up and down the empty corridors, then hit the wall, "Fuck!" She ran her hands through her hair, trying to get her thoughts in order so she could figure out what to do. Marlene would already be in class and she was the only one that could talk Josie out of doing something stupid. Mary would be the least helpful so, Lily was her best option right now.  
She ran down corridor after corridor, ignoring strange or worried looks, until her lungs burned and her legs grew weak. She had reached the library which was one of many options to find Lily at this point in the day. She glanced down rows and rows of bookshelves but found only random useless faces.  
"Whoa, hey. Eilidh!" the voice was instantly recognisable as Sirius's. He was sitting with his friends at the cluster of tables in the far side of the library. Several students shushed him. He ignored him and waved her over. "Are you alright?"  
"Have you seen Lily?" she asked.  
"What's going on?" James asked, looking confused and concerned - they all did. Eilidh took a deep breath to calm herself so she could put on the appropriate front. Josie would kill her if they found out about this.  
"Nothing," Eilidh smiled sweetly, "I just need Lily. It's a girl thing."  
"Bullshit," Sirius said.  
Eilidh glared at him. He was the last person to call her out on anything with everything he pulled this morning.  
"Sirius," Remus warned.  
"Just let us help," James said, calmly.  
"I can't. It-"  
"Let James go with you, he's good in a crisis. The rest of us will look for Lily," Sirius said, gently but leaving no room her to decline.  
"I can-" Eilidh started to protest but Sirius brushed her hair out of her face and gently pecked her lips. He walked away briskly with Remus and Peter following, leaving her stunned. "What the hell was that?"  
"He's actually good at people-ing sometimes," James shrugged. "So, what's going on?"  
"I can't -" she looked at James, remembering every time he was able to calm her down though he barely knew her, remembering how well he understood Sirius and how Sirius, and all his friends really, listened to him. "I don't really know what's going on. It's not the first time this has happened but Josie's really going through some shit."  
"Okay," James stood and swung his rucksack over his shoulder. "Where is she?"  
"I don't know," Eilidh said, quietly.  
"Do you have any ideas? What did she say the last time you saw her?" James questioned.  
"She said she was going to the dormitory to take a nap but I know she's not going to do that," Eilidh said, confidently. Josie didn't sleep at all when she was like this.  
James nodded and placed a comforting hand on her back. "Maybe she still went there. For some other reason? Or maybe we could find something that will tell us where she went?"  
It was feeble but it was the only thing that she had so Eilidh agreed and quickly led the way back to Gryffindor Tower. They darted through the Common Room, Eilidh looking for signs that Josie might have been there. James faltered at the foot of the girls' dormitory steps. Eilidh groaned inwardly, glanced to make sure that the Common Room was empty, then turned to James.  
"Swear to me that you will not abuse what I'm about to show you," Eilidh demanded.  
James looked confused for a second then, "okay, I swear."  
"Solve fasciculos." It was the standard counter-curse that could undo almost any spell. It was no wonder why James's mouth fell open.  
"What?" he demanded.  
Eilidh rolled her eyes and darted up the steps.  
"That was it! You'd think founders would be a little more clever. I mean there must be boys sneaking up here all the time!" James exclaimed.  
"Not really. They all think the founders were cleverer than they were," Eilidh said. Everyone had it in their heads that it was some complex spell, it had to be, this was Hogwarts! They had boys transfiguring their bits or polyjuicing into girls just to try to climb up here but it never worked.  
Eilidh paused outside her dormitory, scared of finding Josie, scared of not finding Josie, realising now that she had just invited James Potter into Lily Evans's dormitory, realising now that Josie couldn't tolerate James on a good day and he had something of a temper…. This was going to turn out marvellous! She reached out her hand to grasp the door handle.  
"Wait!" James said. "What should I expect when we go in there. You know, if she's there."  
"Some very typical I need attention teenage rebellion," she said. James nodded and she went to the door again. "Just don't take anything she says personally."  
"Okay," he said.  
"The important thing is to keep her away from Pevensie and Seligmann and all them, okay?" she said, sternly and clearly.  
"Wow okay," James said.  
The door handle was ripped from her hand. Josie had swung the door open and was standing with her head cocked to the side in only her pants and a tank top.  
"Were you going to come in at any time or were you just going to stand outside the door whispering about me?" she challenged.

"We were planning on coming in. Eilidh thought you'd like to talk to me," James said.  
Josie looked him up and down a soft smile playing on her red stained lips. She had clearly been planning on going somewhere and had dramatically changed her hair and her make-up to do so.  
"Well, I wasn't planning on staying but you're more than welcome to join me. We won't be doing much talking." Josie laughed as she disappeared into their illegally magically extended wardrobe.  
"Josie, it's the middle of the day. Nothing like that's going to be open," Eilidh said. She pinched James before he could open Mary's trunk. "You're not helping," she hissed.  
"Okay," he whispered, rubbing his arm. "Hey, Jo? Josephine? Josie? I don't know what you prefer."  
"You can call me anything," she smirked, hiding behind the wardrobe wall.  
"Yeah, okay. Erm, Eilidh's right, nothing exciting is going to be open right now, so why don't we just hang out here, skive off our classes and head out at sundown when the fun stuff happens," James offered, smirking the kind of smirk that he usually saved for Lily and even running his fingers through his hair.  
"Merlin's balls," Eilidh muttered. At the very least she was bound to run into Marlene or Lily before sundown.  
"You're right. Besides I'm sure you've never been in a girls dormitory before, this must be exciting for you. That one's Lily's bed, in case you were wondering. I know how fond of her you are," Josie smiled and batted her eyes in an enticing yet threatening way.  
Eilidh chuckled softly, proud that her friend wasn't dumb enough to fall for whatever James was trying to pull however desperate she was at the moment.  
James laughed nervously. "Right. We'll let you get dressed now."  
Josie disappeared into their wardrobe again and Eilidh to the opportunity to punch James's arm as hard as she could. He staggered back a few paces.  
"Ow! What the hell, Nicnevin?" he growled.  
"What are you doing? I asked you to help me!" she hissed.  
"I am helping!" he snarled.  
"That was not helping," she said, pointing to the wardrobe, wishing she could wash the image from her eyes.  
"Yes, it is, okay. Sometimes it's best to like play into their… stuff. Trust me. I'm best friends with Sirius for a reason," James said.  
"Yeah, because you encourage his behaviour!" she said. "Oh my God, what was I thinking."  
"No, no… well, yeah but no! Look, there's no way you're going to stop her from getting the attention she wants, just like there's no way you're gonna stop Sirius from getting the adrenaline rush he wants. Its best to give it to them yourself that way you know its safe," James explained and as much as she hated it and as much as it went against everything her head was screaming at her, she felt she was right and she had learned a long time ago to trust her gut over her head.  
"Eilidh!" Josie stuck her head out of the wardrobe again. "Do you mind if I borrow some of your clothes?"  
"You're going to borrow them anyway, aren't you?" Eilidh asked, smiling bitterly.  
"Yes," Josie chuckled and ducked back into the wardrobe again.  
"What is she going to find in your clothes that she's gonna want?" James asked, almost condescendingly.  
Eilidh turned to face him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Meaning what?"  
"Wh- nothing! You're just more of a jeans and t-shirt type and she's in the mood for… I don't know, leather," James said.  
"Leather?" Eilidh questioned.  
"Hey, I'm a mama's boy, through and through. If you really want to know what she's looking for go ask Sirius," James said.  
"Sirius?" Eilidh asked in disbelief. Sirius was too nervous to do anything like that. At least around her, he was.  
"He's a Black. He knows things," James shrugged.  
"What the hell does that mean?" Eilidh questioned.  
"Er, I don't actually know. But he just knows things," he said.  
"Sounds like your boyfriend might be a little out of your league, love," Josie said, striding out of the wardrobe. She had borrowed the one pair of jeans that actually fit Eilidh's scrawny legs and her vest which she wore as a shirt paired with Marlene's boots. "So, what are we going to do to kill time?" she grinned.

* * *

 *****Thank you Love Fiction 2018 :)**

* * *

 *****It doesn't feel like I've been writing this thing for 2 years (one maybe, but not 2!) Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me from the beginning, thank you to those who started reading yesterday, and thank you to all of you in between :D It's been great and I don't think I would have the courage to continue if it hadn't been for your support.**

 **Much love,**

 **XO**


	64. James

James fidgeted and wiped his sweaty palms on the seat of the pub they were in. It was crowded and hot and smelled horribly like alcohol. The music playing so loud he could feel the vibrations in his chest, the people around him had to yell so they could be heard. Most of the people were dancing though, they all formed a tight group in the middle of the room with little to no space between each person. A blinding light flashed to the beat of the music. The food didn't taste so bad he supposed. It probably would have tasted better had it not been tainted by the smell of hot bodies and the vodka that had been spilt on the table.

They shouldn't have gotten in and wouldn't have had Josephine Archer not been so desperate that night. Maybe it was partially his fault too; Eilidh had wanted to let Marlene take over and had he not been so adamant about treating Josephine's condition like Sirius's, she would have put her foot down and they would not be here. So, technically it was Eilidh's fault for them being here - she trusted him too much. That wasn't why he was glowering in her direction. Nor was it the reason why tonight sucked.

That fault could only be placed in Lily Evans. Of course, it was Lily Evans! It was always Lily Evans. If the sky fell and the world ended it would be because of Lily Evans.

He couldn't really blame her for this either. She had no ties to him, she could do as she pleased. But she deserved better. The mere fact that she was allowing herself to be lied to and manipulated and that everyone else just sat around and smiled and laughed while their ' _best friend'_ went through this was the reason why he was glowering at Eilidh, all curled up in a corner with Sirius.

"James!" Josephine Archer clambered over in heels she was too clumsy to wear while sober let alone drunk on _one_ muggle beer. She stumbled into his lap and he caught her before she could fall. Her smile was wider than he had ever seen of her and for once in four years she looked carefree. Had it been anyone else with her tonight, anyone slightly more gossipy, she would be a Hogwarts legend by now. "Come dance with me."

"Why?" he asked. She had already been dancing with the bloke that bought her the beer and seemed to be having a great time.

"Because you're the only one without a girl and it's sad," she pouted, running her hands through his hair. He looked around; Remus was having an enriching discussion with Mary, Peter was dancing with Lily, Sirius was laughing with Eilidh, their legs entangled together. Still, he refused to be pitied.

"You were already dancing with someone," he said, gently taking her wrist to stop her from touching him.

"Come on! If it weren't for you I'd be locked in my dormitory being screamed at and crying and being forced to talk about how shitty my life is," she scoffed and stared off blankly into the far corner.

"Why don't we just get out of here instead?" he suggested. It was too stuffy. The fresh air would probably be good for her. Getting away from Lily for a spell would be good for his head. "They know their way home."

She looked at him with a look that could only be described as deviant, laughed, and said, "okay."

He didn't really know what all of that meant but he was glad to be rid of this place, so he got up, took Josephine Archer's hand, and walked her out, making sure Sirius saw him so they wouldn't worry.

"So what's got you in a mood anyway?" Josie asked, shivering and huddling closer to him.

"I'm not in a mood," he said, wrapping his arm around her. He would have given her his jumper had he been wearing something underneath it. _Note to self: wear layers around girls._

"You are so in a mood. You're a grump. You're not even doing your smirk thing," Josie said.

"My smirk thing?" James laughed.

"Yeah, the thing that makes you look all confident and Potter-y. Without it, you just look grumpy. That's why no one asked you to dance," Josie informed him.

"Got it. I'll make sure to keep up my smirk thing then," James nodded seriously.

They walked down the street in the muggle city Eilidh had taken them to for Sirius's birthday. If he wasn't mistaken that joke shop wasn't too far from here. Things were so much simpler then.

"Lily's really going to the ball with Snape?" James asked, not bothering to keep the malice out of his voice.

"Just as friends. I don't think she's really interested in dating anyone right now. And Severus…" Josie trailed off.

"Who in their right mind would go out with Severus Snape?" James finished for her. Josie chuckled.

"They really are just friends," Josie said. "And even with that, I don't think they're as close as they seem."

"What do you mean?" James asked with a flicker of hope. Maybe Lily had some form of sanity left. She could get anyone at Hogwarts. Why she would choose Severus Snape was beyond him.

"Let's stop talking about Lily," Josie proposed, pulling him into the park. "You're too good to be pining after someone who has zero interest in you."

"I'm not pining. I just think she could do better. And there's something off about Snape," James said, examining the row of ice sculptures they were walking past. He remembered vaguely seeing something like this in Godric's Hollow; ice dragons that could move, reindeer that pulled a sleigh around the square. He was suddenly very homesick and longing for Christmas.

"James," Josie said, stopping in front of him. "You're a good bloke. Despite you're annoying tendencies. And if Lily can't see that then it's her loss. Find someone that likes you."

"I am," James told her. "I've got a date tomorrow."

"Oh, right. Eilidh told us about that. Apparently, you don't even know her," Josie said, condescendingly. He supposed it was a good thing that she was getting back to her usual self. He didn't know what to say so he just shrugged.

Josie, unsatisfied with this remark, rolled her eyes and pulled him towards the fountain in the middle of the square. The water had been shut off but he was sure that it would have been pretty in its proper season.

"James," Josie said, "sit."

So he sat. He liked the way the street lamps reflected off the ice sculptures. There were a few other couples in the park as well, all red-nosed and shivering as they huddled together to fight off the cold. A vendor selling hot drinks began to pack up his truck. He wondered if any of them had ever seen magic or if they really were as oblivious about the world around them as everyone said.

"James," Josie said, bringing his attention back to her. Her hand was suddenly on his thigh, he found it strange. "You know what I mean about finding someone that likes you, someone that you know?"

"Erm, yeah, I think so." He fidgeted a little and bounced his knee, anything that would casually let her hand fall. It stayed firmly in place.

"Good, 'cause I've always kinda liked you and-"

"Er… you're drunk! And not in a good place right now," James said, by way of an excuse. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that he just wasn't interested. He, as inconspicuous as he could, jumped to his feet.

"See! That's what I'm talking about. You're an amazing person and deserve someone who's really interested in you," Josie said, taking his arm in hers.

"Thank you," James said because he couldn't think of anything else to say. His mind had jumped into warp speed and he couldn't translate the jumbled mess that was his thoughts at the moment.

"I'll be better tomorrow," Josie said, with a promising smile.

"I have a date tomorrow," James reminded, beginning to turn them back in the direction of the pub or the club or whatever it was; it was the safety of a very public place however stuffy.

"It's just a date. You're not exclusive," Josie argued.

James laughed nervously, "we'll see how the date goes. We should probably head back though. Some of us have Quidditch practice in the morning."

"I'm getting tired anyway," Josie shrugged.

James turned their stroll into a brisk walk back, practically pulled Sirius to his feet, and corralled the rest of his friends, who were having way too much fun, together before announcing that it was time to head back. He ranted in an uncharacteristic manner about how they were likely to get caught at this point, they had been gone for far too long. It was stupid, their presence or lack thereof would not be noticed by anyone who cared too much about where they were. For some reason, he just really didn't want anyone to know about him and Josie.

"Mate, we'll be fine," Sirius assured him with a none too subtle worried look.

"Yeah, I know," James said, confidently, shrugging Sirius hand off his shoulder. That only made him squint at him. "But I've got Quidditch practice in the morning. Unlike some people who skive it off so much you're about to get kicked off the team."

"Why are you skiving off practices?" Eilidh asked. Sirius glared at him. James shrugged apologetically but didn't feel too bad about it, this way he'd be too busy arguing with Eilidh to look at him all worriedly.

"This was fun. We should do this more often," Mary said, stretching.

"Oh!" Eilidh skipped away from Sirius to Mary's side.

"Oi, we were in the middle of an argument," Sirius protested.

"No, you were in the middle of an argument. I don't see how there could possibly be any valid point for your side and therefore there's no need to have an argument," Eilidh told him. Sirius scoffed at her but only because he didn't have a rebuttal. "Go away this is girl talk."

"Fine," Sirius said. "Last one to Hogsmeade has to touch Snape's hair!" Sirius announced, lurching forward.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed, disapprovingly. James merely laughed. It felt good to run, it cleared his head.

* * *

 *****Glad you liked it Love Fiction 2018, thank you for your continued support. It means a lot! :)*****

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	65. Developments 'n Utopia

Maybe there was something in his head that made him hyper-aware of the way James behaved.

Paranoia? Exhaustion from the lack of a peaceful weekend for the entire semester? Trauma from James's last Hospital visit? A combination of all three? Most likely. So he very hurriedly whispered goodnight and very dearly clung to Eilidh's hand.

"You promised we could talk," Sirius said, by way of an excuse. They had skipped lunch because of Josie's crisis and he had promised her the truth. He should start tallying up the lies he was telling and figure out a way to make amends.

"Oh," Eilidh said, her eyes searching, "right." She knew this wasn't about the conversation they had missed, that could be put off till morning. "I'll be up in a minut-" she turned to say to the girls who had already disappeared up the stairs. She gave a wry little smile, sat down on the pillow next to the fireplace, and stretched her fingers out towards the head of the dying embers.

Sirius had already pushed James onto the couch without an explanation. He was now staring sleepily at the coffee table. He took a deep breath and looked at Sirius.

"What?" he asked.

Sirius didn't know where to begin. How do you approach someone about the way their acting when you know you're paranoid, exhausted, and traumatized?

"Where'd you go when you disappeared with Josie?" Eilidh asked, conversationally. He looked at her and thought maybe he wasn't all that paranoid.

"To the park," James yawned. "To look at the ice sculptures. Pretty but not as cool as magical ones."

"Magical ones?" Sirius asked. He had never heard of magical ice sculptures though he supposed someone had to have enchanted one at some point.

"Yeah, in Godric's Hollow," James said.

"Tinworth," Eilidh corrected.

James took a moment to think about it. "That makes sense," he said. "It's where my mum grew up. She's always talking about moving back there." He cringed a little as if the thought of moving to Tinworth physically pained him. "What's in Godric's Hollow then?"

"The Halloween festival," Eilidh said.

"I have never heard of any of these things," Sirius commented.

"Mate," James turned to look at him, wearing very serious expression. "When's the last time you actually celebrated any holiday with your family?"

Sirius's cheeks warmed. He glanced over at Eilidh and was met with slightly widened eyes, frowned brow, and parted lips. The last thing he needed was his girlfriend pitying him. "Mate, we're Black's," he said, fully aware of how much of a cock he sounded like but it was better than the real answer. James opened his mouth to speak again so Sirius rushed to change the topic. "Anyway, why'd you get all jumpy when you came back from the ice sculptures?"

"I didn't." James finally turned away. "Did you know that Josie liked me?"

Eilidh blinked in surprise and tilted her head a bit. "No?"

"Yeah, I don't know. It's weird," James shrugged.

"So, what happened?" Eilidh asked, edging a little closer.

"She just," James made an odd gesture in an attempt to wave it off. "She just told me she liked me."

"And what did you say?" Eilidh asked.

"I said I have a date tomorrow. And Quidditch. And she was drunk and all," he made another weird gesture. "You know. Dealing with stuff."

"Okay," Eilidh said. Sirius had yet to decipher what her okay's meant but they always seemed to have a double meaning.

"I tried not to hurt her," James said.

"A little rejection might be good for her," she shrugged. James nodded, yawned again, and stretched.

"You going to Quidditch tomorrow?" he asked Sirius.

Sirius didn't answer but he could tell by his groan that James knew he wasn't.

"Good night you two. Try not to get pregnant," was James's parting remark.

"I don't want to talk about Quidditch," Sirius said quickly and allowed himself to fall into the couch cushions. Eilidh sighed and climbed up on the couch with him. "I don't want to talk about holidays either."

He heard her teeth click together. She took a long deep breath. His stomach clenched.

"Are we ever going to talk about anything serious?" she asked. She brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. The movement, however small, released the tension in his stomach.

"We talk about serious shit all the time," Sirius said. "Just last night in the shack, remember?" He flipped over and rested his head in her lap.

"I learn more about you from James than I do from you," Eilidh said.

What on earth could James be telling her? He knew way too much about him. He was a good enough friend not to tell her anything too embarrassing. On purpose.

"Erm," he took a moment to think about what he could tell her. He really didn't want to talk about his family or Quidditch. "Did you know I'm actually the 'bookworm' of the group? Everyone always thinks it's Remus but he doesn't read more than he has to, you know for class or whatever research we might be doing."

"I meant personal stuff," Eilidh said. "I just don't want to have to learn about you from James, I want to hear it from you."

"Of course. But James is my friend -"

"I'm your friend too! That's what I'm talking about. I feel like you shut me out and that you hide things from me. I realise that you have a different relationship with me than you do with your friends but…" she trailed off.

"I just meant that James has been my friend for four years, so, you know, of course, he knows a lot about me," Sirius said.

Eilidh nodded and started picking at the skin around her thumb.

"Eilidh," he reached up to take one of her hands and took a deep breath. "I hate Quidditch. I hate playing on a Quidditch team, I mean. It's just if you don't play as hard or care as much as James and Creswell then you get punished. I have enough obligations and punishments in my life without keeping something that I only joined to make my mother happy."

"So, why don't you just quit?" she asked. There wasn't a hint of anger, or frustration, or even disapproval in her voice. It was nice.

"I have," Sirius said.

"They don't know that," Eilidh said.

"At this point, they'd have to be pretty stupid not to," he laughed. She smiled humorlessly. He suppressed a groan. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm - I am proud of you for quitting when it wasn't making you happy. You shouldn't do things just for other people's sake," Eilidh said.

"But?" he urged her to continue. He liked this diplomatic Eilidh. Even though she was arguing against him.

"But," she sighed and carried on reluctantly. "Maybe you should have told them when you first decided. That way they would have had all this time to replace you and they wouldn't have hung onto the hope that you'd show up and be there for them."

"See, now you're making me feel bad," Sirius half-joked and ignored the small twinge of guilt that appeared.

"I'm sorry. I did say I was proud of you," she reminded.

"I know," he kissed her hand. It was a small and simple show of affection that at one time, seemingly worlds away, would have been preceded by a string of self-doubt and second guesses but he hadn't even thought about it before he had done it. Could it be possible that everything in their relationship be so easy? He decided to try it.

"We're making a map," he said bluntly. It went completely against his plan; he was going to ease her way into it, prepare her before showing her what they had done. It was a gamble, or a test he supposed, to see how she would react to their more reckless schemes.

"A what?" she asked.

"A map. Of Hogwarts. That shows where everyone is and where the staircases move to and all the secret passages we find. Everything really," Sirius said. He waited, counting the seconds with every stroke of his finger along her lifeline.

"Erm, what if -"

"The Slytherins get it? We thought of that and that's why we wanted to break into McGonagall's office. In first year we charmed this parchment so we could vanish the ink until James or I got it and said the password to make it reappear. She confiscated it and told us that those kind of spells are dangerous and some are illegal so we never did it again and now we can't remember what the spell was. So -"

"You're going to break in and find it so you can copy the magic," she said. Sirius nodded. He tried to read her emotions beyond just stunned but he couldn't. "You're making a map of Hogwarts that shows everything that moves, all the secret passageways, everything, in a billion-year-old castle?"

"Yes," he said.

"That's going to take a lot of time," she said, which wasn't at all what he was expecting.

"We get bored easily," he shrugged.

"You're absolutely brilliant," she grinned. "Mental but brilliant. Please be careful."

"Always," he promised, smiling. He was both incredibly pleased because he seemed to have impressed her and relieved because she wasn't angry at all.

"But what does that have to do with Mandrakes?" she asked.

His heart dropped down to his stomach. She couldn't find out about that plan. First, because James was right about it being dangerous for her. Second, because he wasn't sure what James would do if he found out that she was catching on. He didn't think he was really done with the oblivating thing. Out of habit, he tried to think of a lie. Mandrake tea helps you think. Mandrake root powder makes you untraceable. But that's what started this mess in the first place. Things could be as easy as taking a breath for them if he just stopped lying.

He sat up and took both her hands in his. There were tiny flecks of gold in her eyes that he never noticed before.

"Eilidh," he said, as serious as he could muster. She instantly sobered and tensed. "I need you to promise that you'll never ask about that again."

"Why?" she whispered. Why was a good question and yet another he couldn't answer.

"Just promise me that you'll never ask about it, that you'll go completely deaf to the word Mandrake," he implored.

He could tell that she wanted to do this for him but everything in her was pushing her to say no, to keep asking questions. There had to be something he could do, something else they could do with Mandrakes that would ease her suspicion.

"Eilidh, trust me." He was asking a lot, he knew he was, especially right after they had a conversation about how he never opened up to her but this was a lot bigger than holidays and missed practices. He also knew that there was no way she would say no. She was too much like James, she relied too much on friendship and put too much on trust.

"Okay. Only if you'll promise you'll be careful," she said, earnestly. She squeezed his hands.

"Always," he grinned.

"No, no arrogant 'I'm always careful' because you're not -"

"I promise I'll be careful. We know what we're doing, love," he said.

Eilidh nodded, curled into his side, and yawned. "Enough with the serious talk. Tell me what you've been doing instead of going to Quidditch?"

"Usually reading. Usually in my dormitory now that it's cold," he said.

"Boring," she groaned.

"You sound like James," he chuckled.

"Oh, this should be good," she giggled and adjusted herself so she could look up at him. "When did you know that you and James would be friends? Like real friends not - you know what I mean."

It was in first year, back when Bellatrix was still in school and Narcissa had just been made a prefect and Andromeda was still pretending she was a Black. Back when he was more Black than he was now. It wasn't a good year, not just because of his family but because James and he weren't instantaneous friends. At first, it seemed like they might be, they got along excellently on the train, by some cosmic force they were put in the same house, they both had an aptitude for pranks, they could talk Quidditch till they were blue in the face. But eventually his family caught up with him and he said something stupid and James, being the ardently chivalrous boy he is, took offence to it and got physical. No one won that fight. They were both hesitant in their movements yet they were both so angry that they couldn't stop. They both ended up in the Hospital wing with minor injuries.

James had taken whatever Sirius had said as a betrayal and refused to speak to him. He had never felt more alone in his entire life than at that point. Sure, he was used to being the odd one out, the weird one, the one that didn't quite fit, but at least he had Regulus and secretly Andromeda. But Regulus was at home and Andy thought it was too much of a risk to misbehave at Hogwarts.

Bellatrix loved to mock the fact that he was alone, said that if he had just shown a little loyalty to his family he wouldn't be such a freak. And he, being a prideful little berk, would tell her off. That never ended well, not even when they were little.

And James one day found out about it and they had a very long and meaningful conversation about what words were okay and what weren't. James decided that just because they weren't friends, that didn't mean that Sirius had to be alone. So he sat with them in the Great Hall and in class. Then one day, near the end of October, James looked over his shoulder and told Bellatrix that she was an idiot.

It was funny actually, to see a scrawny little eleven-year-old tell Bellatrix, who was celebrated as a prodigy, that she was an idiot and that she was better off keeping her mouth shut before everyone else realized how stupid she really was. Her face had turned red and Sirius swore he saw steam coming out of her ears. Sirius, of course, knew what was coming so he stood up, stepped in front of James and shouted "Too bad you can't pretend you're not ugly!" and prepared himself for the blow.

"Luckily for me, Andy was nearby or else I'd be dead because I swear she was going to kill me," Sirius laughed. "Anyway, I looked back at James and he's got this weird look on his face, he's all bright-eyed, you know how he gets. No one's ever looked at me like that before. And I figure that if he can put up with my bullshit and my family and still keep his sanity, I have to be friends with him because if I'm not, I'll probably lose it and end up like Bellatrix."

"You realised that you had to be friends with him because he loved you enough to have your back even when he was mad at you," she corrected.

"That's what I said," Sirius said. "What about you? Why are you friends with Lily?"

"Because she's the only one that wasn't afraid of me," Eilidh answered.

Sirius nodded, pretending to understand. "Did you yell at them all the time too?"

"No!" she laughed. "It's because I'm a Nicnevin and everyone thinks Nicnevins turn themselves into werewolves."

Sirius vaguely remembered hearing something about that before. He didn't know of any idiot that actually believed it but apparently so.

Lily and Eilidh didn't become friends until second year. In first year she spent all of her time with her cousin Althea. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her family to seclude themselves to only each other, with all the rumours and prejudices surrounding them it was easier that way. Then second year came around and Althea had O.W.L's to prepare for and friends who were annoyed with her for spending so much time with her much younger cousin. So, having no more cousins at her disposal, she attempted to make friends. The girls at first seemed curious about her yet incredibly hesitant. It was Lily who had the guts to just ask her if she was a werewolf or not. And that was it. From there, their friendship blossomed into the cataclysmic disaster that it was in the present.

"It's not getting any better?" Sirius asked.

"It's better than it was," Eilidh allowed. "We're always just inches away from tearing each other's throats out and, so we're trying to not fight in front of anyone else so we don't put them into the middle of it, and I don't know if that's helping or just making it worse."

"As long as you're finding time to talk about it, I don't see how that could make it worse," Sirius mused.

They sat there, with Sirius's arm draped over her shoulders, and Eilidh curled into his side, just remembering simpler times and wondering where they'd be if the war wasn't tearing everything apart. Maybe Snape wouldn't feel the need to choose a side and then maybe James and Lily could be friends and all nine of them could be there, camped out in the Common Room, trading stories about their pasts and talking about all the things they could do together. They had constructed their own utopia and had allowed the illusion of it to take them over so thoroughly that both slept with ease for the first time in a very long time.

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 *****Thank you Love Fiction 2018 :D**

 ******Kubra Potter, I don't even know if you're going to read this because you wrote a review for chapter 13 but thank you! I absolutely adore Remus, he has such depth to him.**

 *******Jane Turnleaf, again I don't know if you'll be reading this but of course I read your review, your opinions are important to me. Thank you :) The subject of Peter's blood status has been debated to no end for years. Rowling has never put in her input but she has said is that "Muggleborns are not allowed (to be a Death Eater) except in rare circumstances." She said this in regards to Snape's blood status, him being half and the purebloods believing that was just as bad as being Muggle-born. In my opinion, it never seemed like Peter was ever truly accepted as a real Death Eater, even though he was basically the reason Voldemort was able to return to power. Voldemort never showed him any gratitude, he even went to the lengths of making Peter Snape's "assistant" when he had to have known what that meant for him. I think Voldemort giving Peter the dark mark was just a means to an end for him, a way to get inside information in the beginning, and eventually return to power at the start of the second war, in the same way, Peter used the dark mark for his own survival. It could also be the reason no one suspected Peter of being Voldemort's spy, after all, why would Death Eaters' allow a muggle born to join their ranks? This is just my opinion, I do understand why people believe Peter was either half or pure (his mother receiving his Order of Merlin after his "death" and several other reasons.) I hope our differences in opinion won't hinder your enjoyment of the story.**

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 *****THIS is what their stupid date was supposed to be like! but I just can't get it right! AGH.**

 **Anyway, hi. I don't have any news but I hoped you liked this chapter and if you didn't, constructive criticism is always welcome. :)**

 **OH! I do have a question though! There's been a Tumblr post that's been floating around (as they do) about James possibly having a hand in Snape's potions' book annotations. While I don't want to take away from Snape's character, it doesn't make sense to me for James to be a complete dunce at Potions considering who his father was. I don't think he's as brilliant as Snape was at it, but he had to pick up a few tips/shortcuts from his dad. And it would be a very Slytherin like thing to make note of an overheard conversation even if it was from your enemy if it benefits you. Just let me know what you guys think. Does the theory take away from Snape's brilliance and therefore his character? because that is something I'd very much like to avoid. If J.K. did only one thing right, it was the complexity of Snape's character.**

 **Thanks for reading. Welcome newcomers.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO.**


	66. Regulus

The warmest place to be in Hogwarts during the winter was just off of the main staircase in front Boudica the Great's portrait. It was right above the kitchen's fireplace. It was were three boys sat cross-legged on a Saturday afternoon feeling safe and comfortable in their quiet little corner of such a big and chaotic place. Little Barty Crouch Jr bounced a quaffle off the opposite wall, dreaming of the day he would be Hogwarts's best Quidditch player and he'd finally step out of his father's shadow and make a name for himself. Maybe he'd make seeker, once Regulus graduated, of course, then he'd really get all the glory. Beside him was Lucas Nicnevin; with his head resting against the wall and his eyes unfocused, he looked quite serene despite supporting a black eye. Regulus was the only one who seemed to have an issue: He clenched and unclenched his fists he held safely under his arms, a muscle in his jaw convulsed as he glared, lost in angry thought, at poor St Justus's portrait. He was still in his Quidditch uniform. It would be the first time he would ever miss a game and probably not the last with the way things were going.

"I can feel how angry you are," Lucas Nicnevin said. He had a deep voice for his age and was naturally soft-spoken.

"It's not at you," Regulus said. Barty finally stopped bouncing his ball.

"It's not your problem," Luke said, his eyes on his fidgeting fingers.

Regulus turned his body to face him. He had known Luke now for three years and this was the most confrontational he had ever seen him. "How could you even say that?" Regulus demanded.

Luke looked back at him out of the corner of his eye, saw how intense his gaze was and quickly looked back at his fingers. He pulled the sleeves of his jumper over his hands and crossed his arms so tightly it was like he was hugging himself. "It's not your problem," he repeated.

"How so?" Regulus challenged. "You're my friend, everyone knows that here so what they say about you reflects on me. Your bad reputation hinders my reputation."

Luke sniffled and wiped his nose. "Maybe we shouldn't be," he said matter of factly.

"Shut the fuck up," Regulus said, returning to his initial position. Barty chose to take that to mean that he could resume bouncing his ball.

"No, seriously. If my friendship hurts you so badly then why -"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Regulus hissed.

"I know. But… why?" Luke asked like it was a genuine question. It was a ridiculous question. They had known each other since before Hogwarts, each had heard how horrible the other was for years, it was like their parents had been begging them to be friends. "Why, if my friendship gets you kicked out of games and thrown in detention? Why if we have to be friends behind our parents back? Why is any of it worth it?" Luke continued.

"You're pulling away again," Regulus said. His comment only made Luke draw deeper into himself.

He never understood why Luke was the way he was. He had never asked but he had always assumed that something horrible had happened to him and caused him to be afraid of everything. That's why he was so quiet, why he always second-guessed their friendship, and why he always withdrew; Luke was always separate from everything, he never could quite get a handle on him.

Barty sighed heavily and maybe a little irritably. "Mate," he said, turning to Luke, "I'd much rather have seen that fight than the stupid Quidditch match." Regulus couldn't tell if he was telling the truth, especially knowing how much Barty like Quidditch, but he appreciated it all the same.

Luke sniffled again. "How are you going to hide this from your parents. McGonagall's writing to them right now."

"They think that McGonagall's an idiot just like Dumbledore," Regulus sighed. "I'll think of something."

When it came to his parents, it was easier to come up with the lie in the moment, that way he could know how much they knew. He story would be along the lines of him not fighting in favour of werewolves and certainly not getting physical because of it. It was one thing to have a calm and open discussion about it with his cousin (why would we not like werewolves when all they are is a product of strong magic?) and another thing entirely to feel so strongly about the issue to get violently upset. Their disappointment would be strong but he could get himself out of it easily. It didn't help that Sirius just attacked another pureblood. He was getting sloppy.

"Potter," Barty said.

"Pardon?" Regulus asked, blinking himself out of his deep thoughts.

"Potter is running through the entrance hall, up the stairs…" The sound of rubber-soled shoes hitting marble filled the silence.

James Potter rounded the corner, his shoelaces untied, as usual, his hands chapped from the cold, his face flushed from exertion, his glasses askew, and his hair… let's not even touch on that. He skidded to a halt when he saw them.

"You lot all right?" he said.

"Huh?" Barty asked.

They were all confused. Since when did James Potter come running from a Quidditch game to check on them?

"You all right?" Potter repeated. "We saw the fight. Well, the end of it, and wanted to make sure -"

"Draw the short stick, did you?" Regulus interrupted, suddenly angry again. If Sirius wanted to check on him he should do it himself.

"What? No, I just… what happened?" Potter asked, closing the distance between them. He didn't look like he was planning on going anytime soon.

"Oh, fucking hell," Regulus muttered. He hadn't taken Potter for a gossip but he supposed Hogwarts could give anyone the small town mentality.

"Nothing," Luke said.

"It was just a bet gone wrong," Barty added. "Right, Reg?  
Regulus didn't say anything.

Potter sighed heavily. "Look, if there's ever anything you need, you can come to me, no questions asked," he vowed.

"Why?" Regulus asked, defensively.

"You're the brothers of my friends. That makes you kind of like my extended family, right?" Potter smirked, his expression strange to Regulus. "Anyway, just wanted to make sure you lot were okay and to tell you that. I'll leave you to your… whatever you were doing," he backed away, gave one last awkward chuckle and skipped back down the stairs.

"That was weird," Barty observed, his ball bouncing again.

Regulus nodded, trying to wrap his head around just how weird that really was.

"It's probably because of my sister," Luke mumbled.

"That makes sense," Regulus agreed. It made a heck of a lot more sense that Sirius sending him.

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 ***** Thank you, Love Fiction 2018**

 ******Jane Turnleaf, I'm surprised you're the only one to call me out on that. My only excuse is that I'm severely lacking time to properly edit. Anyway, to answer your question, I am a firm believer in mind over matter and Lily so very much wants to believe in Snape and that can cause people to act irrationally and lie to themselves when the truth is so plainly in front of them. It is shown a little in canon material, Lily herself points out that Snape has called people Mudbloods before and even that didn't stop her from being friends with him until it happens to her. I'm hoping to get to a point where I have enough chapters written ahead of time so I can spend my normal writing time to edit previous chapters and fix this issue. Thank you for the compliments though, I hope you continue to enjoy :)**

 *******Merrick Whitlock, thank you**

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 *****I've been wanting to do a Regulus chapter for a while. Hope you guys found it worthwhile :D**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	67. Don't think Just do

There weren't many options for dating venues at Hogwarts and none that would help avoid that dreadful awkward moment that is so common on a first date. There was the kitchen but the constant stream of busy yet accommodating house elves did not create a romantic atmosphere. The astronomy tower was perhaps the most common unless it was winter and unfortunately it was. Then the Great Hall for a romantic night of laying under the enchanted ceiling, it was perfect until the prefects were told to pay special attention to it on their evening rounds. So really, what were his options? Put her in the middle of a chaotic kitchen, take her to the astronomy tower so she could freeze, or put her in detention?

Of only Pevensie had thought of this, set up the date for a Hogsmeade weekend, or gave him something to work with. James had yet to meet this girl. His picture of her was based solely on Pevensie's loose description of dark hair, dark eyes, and… well, that part wasn't worth repeating. He didn't know anything about her. Was she smart? Funny? He hoped she wasn't stupid. What if she was as lame as a troll. And just as pretty for that matter. It all depended on how much he trusted Pevensie…. He didn't know how much he trusted Pevensie.

That wasn't to say that Pevensie wasn't his friend, James would even say that he'd trust Gabe Pevensie with his life. And what did he really have to lose? If she wasn't smart then he'd look like a genius in her eyes. And if she wasn't funny… he hoped that she would have enough of a sense of humour to find him funny.

And if it didn't work out they could always go back to their original idea of not going to the dance at all… except for Sirius, of course. The man himself walked beside James with a determined look in his eye and a stubbornly set jaw.

"What?" James asked, knowing his friend well enough to know that Sirius was biting his tongue.

"Sorry?" Sirius said, whether his innocent look was feigned James couldn't tell.

"You're not saying something. Say it," James requested. Sirius sighed and his jaw muscles relaxed.

"What was her name again?" he asked.

"Who?" James quirked his eyebrow.

"This - this girl," Sirius gestured toward the abandoned Charms classroom to which they were headed. "Your date," he clarified, a drop of humour in his tone.

James started to answer, he opened his mouth and stuttered out a syllable, before realising he couldn't. What was her name? He had been so consumed with the girls name the day Pevensie had told him about her he was sure he would never forget it. Had so much really happened since then? It hadn't felt like it.

Sirius snorted and clasped his hands behind his back, something he did when he was being smug, something he did to purposely annoy James. "That is an excellent way to start your relationship. A beautiful love story, really. It'll put all others -"

"You said it yourself that I need to get over Lily," James interrupted, humorlessly. Sirius glanced at him sideways, giving a half smile and a quirked brow - a look that said _so?_ "So, this is getting over her. I'd like your support."

"You have my support," Sirius nodded, sounding earnest. "You'd have even more of it if you did this yourself. Find a girl you actually like. And preferably know the name of."

"Well, unless you have another Eilidh in your back pocket…" James smirked. Sirius spun around and stopped. "You know what I mean!" He hoped he did. James was a firm believer in all good relationships starting with friendship. Eilidh was his friend. One he wasn't attracted to but it fit the concept.

"You're not…." Sirius got all squinty eyed. His chest puffed up and his shoulders tensed.

"Mate," James said, seriously, placing his hand on Sirius's shoulder to stress this point; "No."

"Okay," Sirius nodded and they continued walking. "You could t-"

"It's not a problem. It will never be a problem," James said. Sirius nodded again. "She's cool. That's all I meant."

"Yeah. I'm sure - you know, Pevensie picked her out so, whoever she is, she's got to be cool. Right?" Sirius smiled, trying to be reassuring even though James knew he was expecting the worst.

"Exactly," James nodded.

They came to a stop at exactly the same time in the exact same position with their feet shoulder width apart and their hands clasped behind their backs. They faced the Charms' classroom door both momentarily immobilized by their nerves. James was late but James was always late. Still, it made a bad first impression.

"I need to go in by myself," James said, finally.

"Probably for the best," Sirius agreed, knowing that it wasn't time for him to move yet. James waited to actually say goodbye before he got his nerves under control. Then James hugged him because he knew Sirius wouldn't mind and because he actually needed it.

"Good luck," Sirius said, pulling away. "Not that you'll need it."

"Keep up the sweet talk Black and I might have to date you," James grinned.

Sirius gave a rude hand gesture before running off. James waited until he rounded the corner before facing the door again.

Don't think about it, just do it. That had become his mantra recently. It resulted in both bad and good, regardless it got things done. It didn't fail him that night. If he had thought of it he would have spent the night in that corridor thinking of all the ways this could go wrong, he wouldn't have put his hand on the door, he wouldn't have turned the handle, and he wouldn't have walked in. All with his eyes closed.

He didn't open them until he shut the door. For a second he thought he might not have. He had walked into pitch blackness. Even the light emitting from the tip of his wand did little to dispel the darkness, all he could see was his hand clasped around his wand handle. He wished that he hadn't sent Sirius away, wished that they had come up with a contingency plan, some word he could mutter into their two-way mirrors and he'd come flying to James's rescue but James hadn't brought the mirror. He hadn't brought the map so he didn't know who if anyone was in the room with him. He hadn't brought his cloak though he didn't think there was much the cloak could do to help him in this situation. It was most likely that his enemies if there were any, couldn't see him. They had to know that he was still by the door. And at this, though he took a step forward. Something pressed into his trousers, threatening to thinly slice into his leg, like at tightly drawn wire. He took a step back, heard the wire twinge, and the room burst into flames. The heat of it blew through his hair, the sudden burst of light blinding him even further. He blinked until his eyes became accustomed to the candlelit room.

The desks were all pushed up against the walls, the blackboard was tucked in the corner, all other trace of academia gone. In the center was table holding two candles, food that smelled wonderful (chicken and bread rolls for sure,) and roses. Beside the table sat two chairs, one empty, the other holding someone with dark hair and dark eyes. He glared at James, his mouth sneering around the muzzle stuffed into it. James's stomach dropped, he felt the blood drain from his face. He didn't think he was actually there. Then the door burst open bringing James back to reality with a jolt.

Surprise!" Gabe Pevensie sang. There were at least two others behind him, sniggering in the dark corridor. Anger flooded James allowing him to feel his muscles again though he couldn't find his tongue. "We knew how much you two liked each other and thought since it wasn't working out with the girls that you should try a bloke. You're welcome," Pevensie grinned and paused like he actually expected a thank you. "Have a good night you too. And remember to use protection." A loud chortle echoed through the empty corridor before Pevensie shut the door.

James didn't think it was locked but he didn't try it. He thought about it; it would be somewhat satisfying to leave Snape tied to a chair in a well-lit room for someone else to find. But that wouldn't relieve the agonising need to release the tension in his muscles. He ripped the gag out of Snape's mouth and cut through the ropes around his wrists. James waited until he was standing before punching him. Snape bringing the table down with him, blood dribbled from his cut lip. The tension had left James's muscles leaving an ache in its wake, his knuckles pulsed with pain where his fists made contact.

"This obviously wasn't my idea," Snape said. James could hear his sneer. He used the turned over table to help himself up. James charged him and backed him into a corner. He didn't really know what he was doing when he used his forearm to hold him against the wall, he knew it hurt Snape or at the very least made him very uncomfortable. He didn't care, a part of him liked it though he refused to acknowledge it.

"If anyone finds out about this Snivellus -"

"Why would I tell anyone?" Snape hissed. This had to be just as humiliating for Snape as it was for James. So he let him go. Maybe it was because James had hit him, maybe it was because he had backed him into a corner, or maybe it was just because they were James Potter and Severus Snape and this is what they did, but Snape took out his wand. James saw this, and being as quick as he was, ripped the wand out of his hand before he was able to utter a spell. Snape blinked in surprise then froze as James's wand came to hover over his Adam's apple. It bobbed slightly which was the only sign of fear Snape showed.

"I know the spells they used to seal the door," Snape explained, calmly.

"They sealed the door?" James asked, truly surprised though at this point he should have known.

"Don't you know your friends at all?" Snape asked. James sneered at him and threw his wand across the room. His anger wasn't at all dispelled, in fact, he thought about kicking Snape while he was bent over picking up his wand. He kicked one of the chairs instead which wasn't half as satisfying, especially when none of the wood splintered.

Snape made fast work of unlocking the door. James tried not to be impressed, he was sure he could have done the same just as easily, if not more so.

"To finish your previous threat, if anyone finds out about this, my friends and I will finish what we started," Snape said, calmly, which was somehow more chilling. How was he not seething with anger? Why wasn't he kicking chairs and throwing punches? Surely the greasy git had just as much to be angry about as James did.

"I'm not afraid of you and your… friends? I didn't think you had any friends," James said, trying to match Snape's coolly detached demeanour.

Snape's lips twitch, almost sneering. He was struggling to control himself just as much as James was. Good. Snape started to rebuttal.

"Ah, ah, ah," James held up a hand to silence him. Colour rose to Snape's pallid face. "There's no need to fight. We're both victims here."

"You're right," Snape nodded. "For once we're equals. We should part as equals. You hit me. It's only fair that I get to hit you."

James couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Snape couldn't actually think that James would let him hit him no matter the circumstances. It was almost laughable.

"It's only fair," James nodded. "However, my friends think I'm on a date right now and if I come back with a bruise, then…"

He didn't get to finish his excuse. Snape's fist went straight for his gut. He was surprisingly strong for someone so spindly. The wind was knocked out of him as he doubled over, seeing stars.

"I would wait a little longer before heading back. Date's tend to last a bit longer than this," Snape told him, trying to pretend as if his hand wasn't killing him by subtly shanking it out as he shoved it in his pocket.

"What would you know about dates, Snivellus?" James laughed and pretended it didn't hurt.

"Ask Lily," Snape whispered. He paused for a moment to revel in whatever emotion James's expression portrayed.

James sunk to the floor, using the wall for support. The emptiness in his chest hurting more than his bruised abdomen and protesting knuckles did. The thought of Lily going out with Snape was enough to distract him from how much he wanted to beat Gabe Pevensie bloody. He wasn't necessarily angry about it. He wouldn't call it sadness either. It was just shock. Maybe. Most probably.

He had tried as best he could to win Lily over. He had thought, just as Sirius had said, that Lily would come to her senses and see Snape for what he was.

Snape had to be lying. Or he was delusional.

He didn't know how long he waited before heading back. His friends were still awake and active. Evidently, it was enough time for them not to worry about his appearance.

"How'd it go?" Peter asked.

"Fine," James shrugged, noting how monotonous his voice sounded, knowing his friends would probably take that as a cue to worry. He got into bed anyway and closed the curtains around him. He didn't sleep though. He was reminded that Gabe Pevensie was just a few steps away by a rowdy noise coming from the hall and was reminded about Lily by the sound of a girl laughing. He festered in his anger and disappointment and let it carry him through the night until finally, well after the other three fell asleep, his drifted close and blissful unconsciousness overtook him.

* * *

 *****Jane Turnleaf, yes to everything you just said (a week ago, ha.)**

 ******Love Fiction 2018, thank you :)**

* * *

 *****So, I've been thinking a lot about Eilidh's character. She was originally supposed to be just a small secondary character but I fell in love with her and let her run a little wild. Anyway, stuff happens when you spend a great deal of time thinking about oc's. For instance, you might even think about writing an original work based on this character. And then you feel super bad about it because you know that it will take time away from your already scant time to write this fanfiction... What I'm trying to say is, I MIGHT be posting less often. MIGHT. We'll see. I'm actually kind of excited. Not about posting less but about this other thing, whatever it may be... We'll see.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO.**


	68. Marlene

The rain poured down relentlessly, in buckets upon buckets of icy water that turned the snow into slush, the mud into glue, and people's moods into glum. Marlene heaved a sigh as she weaved the feather of her quill in between her fingers. The whole school was stuck between the last Hogsmeade weekend and the last Quidditch match of the semester and the Christmas Holiday. Most of them didn't have anything to look forward to at Hogwarts anymore and in their anticipations time slowed, minutes became hours, days became weeks. They were all bored and it didn't matter how many Christmas lights were strung nor how cheery the carols they played over the intercom between classes; not even Peeves' parodies could cheer them up. They all wanted to go home.

It certainly didn't help that they had to endure an hour listening to a dead guy with the most boring voice in history, droning on and on about… what were they 'learning' about?

She looked over at Mary's fragmented sentences and realised that she wasn't the only one who had zoned out.

Marlene gently kicked the back of Eilidh's chair, being neighbours with Josie she was bound to know something.

Eilidh started and whipped around.

"What are we talking about?" Marlene whispered.

Eilidh turned back around to whisper to Josie.

"Lord Hal the vampire," Eilidh answered, completely turning her chair around.

"Who?" Marlene asked.

"I don't know. I'll nick her notes later. Listen," Eilidh glanced around the room. "I know how we're going to get back at the boys."

"They haven't done anything yet," Marlene murmured.

"I know bu-"

You could hear a quill drop in the room because of how instantaneously quiet it got, (if it weren't for Professor Binns carrying on, of course.) Remus in the back of the class choked on a snore, Potter next to him stopped rolling his inkwell, Evan Rosier crumpled up a note he was passing in Emma from Slytherin, Eilidh wiped back around so quickly Marlene got a face full of soft hair and a nose full of sweet perfume.

"Professor Binns," Professor McGonagall announced herself to the regularly oblivious teacher. "Professor!" she repeated when Binns continued to lecture. It wasn't until McGonagall was standing beside the podium did he realise that she was there. They mumbled to each other in a very teachery sort of way while the class exchanged curious glances and strained to overhear whatever snippets of conversation they could. Professor McGonagall turned on her heels and made to step down from the platform before -

"Mr Black! We've been through this in my class, I'll not tolerate it in Professor Binns's either. All four on the floor. Now."

Sirius, still balancing on the hind legs of his chair, rested the tips of his toes on the floor.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips.

"What?" Sirius asked. "One, two, three, four. Four on the floor."

Marlene would not have thought it possible had she not been there to witness it but McGonagall's lips disappeared into a thin slit, her eyebrows met her hairline, as she stared even harder at Sirius. She was quite sure her glare could put him through a wall. Sirius, however, continued to look at her innocently confused, there might have been a twitch at the corners of his mouth.

"Detention Black, after dinner. And unless you plan on joining him, Mr Potter, I would stop threatening Mr Snape," McGonagall said. Potter straightened in his seat like any normal student would after hearing the harsh tone in McGonagall's voice being directed at them; he slouched down quickly in his chair, trying to make it seem like he hadn't.

"Would that be directly after dinner, ma'am or a few hours after. I'd hate to be late for our date," Sirius grinned, still leaning back in his chair.

"Directly after," McGonagall answered, ignoring the classes poorly muffled sniggers. Behind her, it looked like Professor Binns had already resumed his lecture.

"Looking forward to it," Sirius winked.

McGonagall did the McGonagall thing; pursed her lips and strode forward. Unexpectedly, she strode straight to Eilidh's desk. "Come with me, please, and bring your belongings," McGonagall whispered.

This seemed to come as much of a surprise to Eilidh as it did the rest of the class. In fact, the reassuring smile she tried to give Marlene as she passed was not at all reassuring.

Marlene turned around, got Sirius's attention, and tried to signal him to follow her out. However, he seemed to think she was asking him if he knew what was going on and simply shrugged.

Marlene huffed, waited until Professor Binns's back was turned, grabbed Mary, and made a break for it.

"What are you doing?" Mary hissed as Marlene carefully closed the door behind them.

"Why do you think McGonagall took Eilidh out of class?" Marlene asked.

"To discuss something probably. Like we could be doing in class," Mary whispered.

"You worry too much MacDonald," Potter said coming seemingly out of nowhere. Marlene froze for a second out of fear while Mary squeaked, trying not to scream, and grabbed onto Marlene's arm.

"He's right, 'snot good for your health," Sirius added, standing right beside Potter like they'd been there the whole time. The door creaked open and Remus slid through.

"Did Lily go to the toilet or something?" he asked. "I tried to invite her but I couldn't find her."

"She only goes to History of Magic when we have exams. Don't know why," Potter answered, cleaning his glasses off on his shirt.

"Peter's not coming?" Mary asked

"He said he was going to stay and take notes," Remus shrugged.

Marlene imagined that she could cut the tension that followed with a very dull knife.

"Well, let's go then. We can discuss theories on the way," Sirius said marching forward.

"Yes, sir," Potter saluted. Sirius grimaced at him over his shoulder. "That was weird. I'm never saying that again," Potter vowed and rushed in front of Sirius.

"Wait, where did you lot come from?" Marlene asked.

"History of Magic," Remus answered.

"Ha ha," Marlene groaned.

"Better question: Why did McGonagall take Eilidh out of class?" Sirius asked.

The took the long way to McGonagall's office for fear of running into her and discussed what little they did know of Eilidh's life that could lead up to this point. It was concluded, by the time the reached the bench outside of McGonagall's office, that this was the fault of Eilidh's aunt's failing health. They prepared to comfort a grieving friend. Again.

"Man, this year must suck for her," Mary commented, swinging her foot and looking at the office door as if she could hug Eilidh through the wood.

"Professionally," Marlene agreed which earned her a strange look from James.

"I think this year sucked for everyone," Remus said.

"Not everyone lost their father," Marlene reminded.

Sirius stood, took a few steps closer to the office, and said, "Are you sure we should even be here? Maybe she wants some time alone? To process or something."

"Sit down," Marlene ordered, not bothering to hide her irritation with him. His second guessing made her usually confident friend second guess everything and it was becoming intolerable.

Sirius glared at her, huffed, and sat down. Just in time for Eilidh to appear carrying a large box-shaped parcel.

"Hi," she said softly. McGonagall came out behind her, looked surprised at their being there, but otherwise turned a blind eye.

"Not fair, Nicnevin, we still have weeks 'till Christmas," Potter said, cheerily as he moved to take the box from her. "Oh, what the hell is in this?"

"Here. _Leviosa,"_ Eilidh waved her wand and allowed the box to float between them.

"I could've carried it," he told her.

"I know," Eilidh said, still smiling.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, tilting his head to examine the side. "Shaw?"

"My Grandparents on my dad's side," Eilidh explained. "They sent this and a letter explaining what it was to McGonagall - well the school. It's my inheritance."

"Oh," they said collectively in varying sympathetic tones.

"Erm, probably in the library," Marlene answered.

"Do you want me to get her?" Mary offered, already backing away. Eilidh nodded. "We'll meet in the Common Room."

"Come on, love," Marlene took Eilidh's free hand.

"You guys didn't have to leave class for me," Eilidh smiled at them.

"Any time," Potter shrugged.

"You'd do the same for us," Remus agreed.

"Do you want us to stay with you?" Sirius asked, stupidly. Marlene rolled her eyes and forced herself not to hit him.

"If you want to," Eilidh said.

"Of course we want to, we're friends," Potter said, more to Sirius than Eilidh.

"Yeah, we'll always be there for you if you need us," Sirius said, which granted him some forgiveness. "But if you feel crowded and want it to be just you and Lily, that's fine too."

Eilidh wore her expression that made Marelen was to scream out in frustration. She never understood why Eilidh had such a hard time expressing her feelings for such a vocal person. Marlene gently squeezed her hand for support.

"Erm, I'd like you to stay if you don't mind," Eilidh said, as shyly as Eilidh could. "James, I'd understand if you didn't want to. With Lily and everything."

"I can't be scared off that easily," Potter laughed.

So the five of them walked together to the Common Room, each wondering about what was in the box and how it would affect their already troubled friend. Marlene wished there was something she could do to help. All she could offer was her hand to hold and shoulder to cry on.

* * *

 *****Son of Whitebeard, any references to C.S. Lewis made in the previous chapter was accidental... I haven't read anything by him since elementary school so I'm very curious about what you found. TELL ME?! My baby Regie...**

 ******Snuffles Bitch, the implication was entirely intentional, you've got a handle on Pevensie's character. Aw shucks ;)**

 *******Love Fiction 2018, thank you :D**

 ********Merrick Whitlock, thank you :)**

 *********Jane Turnleaf, nah dude, I don't care how hot the girl is, James is a very focused, goal-oriented person and he will love Lily until the very end.**

* * *

 *****WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! There was a show I used to watch with my friend and there was a mysterious box and the characters were all like arg what's in the box! and we thought it was hilarious for some reason. Anyway, this chapter reminded me of it and now I have to try and remember my facebook password so I can message her and figure out what show it was. I think it was Arrow but I'm not sure...**

 **Sorry for the horrendous amount of typos that I'm sure there are in this chapter, I'm exhausted and haven't had time to do much of anything let alone edit. :/**

 **Thank you for reading and all the other wonderful things you do *insert 2003 heart emoji that fanfiction stupidly blocks***

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	69. Sirius

They were due for a crisis. They had an entire weekend, after Archer's meltdown, of nothing save a Quidditch match (Hufflepuff won) and a Slug Club meeting (which they attended only to provide their most immature, childish antics.) He could only wonder why Eilidh's grandparents couldn't have waited until later to send this to her. They were bound to see each other during the summer; which would have been best, this being a family affair.

The Common Room was littered with older students using their free period to study or catch up on assignments. Even Gabe Pevensie sat in a corner with a book larger than his head. He saw Eilidh staring awkwardly around at the small audience.

"Our dormitory would be more private," Sirius suggested.

At the others' nods of agreement, Remus offered; "I'll stay here for Lily and Mary."

"And James and I can run for snacks," Marlene said, too cheerily. "For comfort," she added, more appropriately before dragging the almost protesting James out.

Eilidh sighed irritably and led the way up as she mumbled about meddlers.

"You'll be happy to hear that we did our laundry." He knew that girls didn't want to hear about dirty laundry but he never did get the hang of small talk. That was more Regulus's forte. Besides, if she wanted small talk she would have filled the silence herself. So, Sirius resolved to leave her alone with her thoughts. Eilidh chuckled nonetheless and all but skipped the rest of the way.

It would seem that she had resolved to be unnecessarily cheery, probably sensing his discomfort. He silently cursed himself. He wished that his 'good breeding' had left him with the knowledge of what to say or do in situations like these instead of the feeling of helplessness. He wished that he could somehow explain to Eilidh that even though he didn't know what to say to her it didn't mean that she had to not be upset.

"Wow, you did clean! I almost don't recognize it," she smirked as she looked around the room in semi-faux amazement."Can I guess whose bed is whose?" she asked, smiling in the way she did when taking on an exciting challenge. It was a mischievous, cocky, victorious smile that he liked on her. Her cheeriness might not have been so made up as he had assumed.

"Go ahead," he invited, it would be interesting to see what she thought. She set the box down carefully next to their writing desk and looked around more closely.

"That one is obviously James's," she said, pointed to the ragged mess that James had made of his blanket. It was obvious because it was surrounded by posters of Quidditch teams, a picture of him smiling between his parents, and several muggle pictures of him and the muggle boys in his neighborhood he had grown up with.

"That one's Peter's," she said, pointing correctly to Peter's bed. His bed was rather messy too in a comfortable nesting way rather than James's I'm-too-busy-to-clean way.

"And that one's Remus's," she said pointing to Sirius's bed.

Though he was disappointed he could understand why Remus looked bookish and neat which is exactly what his bed represented. It was the plainest of the four with no posters around the bed or pictures of his family, his books - classic muggle novels - he kept lined up by preference in his nightstand which carried only the cup of water he needed to wake up every morning. He kept his bed made because he couldn't sleep if it wasn't but he didn't always have the energy to make it before bedtime so he took the time to make it in the morning. James called him a ponce, Sirius told him to eat shit.

"And this one," she jumped onto Remus's bed, "is yours."

Remus's was still neat but lived in. His bed wasn't made. He read only magical nonfiction books which were kept in small stacks under the bed. The pictures of his family he kept in a photo album in the nightstand on which he kept his collection of unorganized crumpled up sweet wrappers from his "secret" midnight stash.

"I didn't know you had such a sweet tooth," she cooed.

"I don't," he said. He absolutely hated sweet things, it made him sick. He could barely stand half a butterbeer and only drank it socially. He would occasionally splurge on fruit but even then it was the more sour kinds like grapefruit.

"Then what's all this from?" she asked.

"Why are you so sure that that's my bed?" he challenged.

"You mean that one's yours," she pointed to the correct one, not bothering to cover up her disbelief. "So you weren't kidding when you said you were the bookish one?" she laughed as she darted past.

Sirius chuckled in response and continued to watch her carefully.

Eilidh knelt and tilted her head to read the titles. Those were only his favorites, the rest he kept in his trunk but he decided to wait to see what her reaction was before he showed her.

"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Vol 2. You ponce," she laughed.

"Eat shit," he said, fighting a smile.

She took up a book, the very first muggle book he had ever read - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"Be my guest," he shrugged. Reading the series out of order didn't ruin anything for him so he supposed she could do the same.

She climbed onto his bed and made room for him so he climbed in next to her and pulled the spare blanket he kept on the foot of the bed over them.

"Eilidh?" Sirius was unsure whether or not to ask this question, not while she seemed to adamant about staying cheery. "Are you okay?"

She hummed her affirmation as she skimmed the first page.

"Like really okay?" he clarified.

She put the book down but still didn't look at him. "I'm nervous," she said finally. "I don't know why. It's not like there's going to be anything bad in there."

Sirius nodded. He imagined that he'd be nervous too. It was the not knowing that would kill him. What memories would be connected to his inheritance when his parents passed? There was bound to be some bittersweet memories, his childhood wasn't all bad but so many of his memories had been tainted by his current standing with them.

"Maybe it would be best if you opened it alone, just to see what's in it. There could be something you don't want anyone seeing," Sirius advised.

She thought about this. "If I did it alone, it would sit under my bed forever because I would convince myself to wait until I was ready but I'm never going to be ready," she said, sounding certain, then added, "if I hesitate, will you force me into it?"

"No," he said, stubbornly. "If you're not ready then you're not ready."

She didn't seem to like this answer.

"You know, when your grieving process is over there'll come a day when you'll just miss him so much that having something to hold that was once his will comfort you," he said. "Right now, you're angry that he's gone. You miss him, yes, but you're also kinda hoping that he's not really gone so after you accept that he actually is then you'll be ready."

"Did you get all this from your books?" she asked, with a sad sort of smile.

"I read an article on the stages of grief," he said, which was about all he knew about it having never experienced it himself. "Written by a Muggle-born, of course. Purebloods couldn't care less about psychology."

"You are such a geek, Ace," she said.

"That was such an oxymoron, my dearest divine," he chuckled.

She giggled and snuggled closer to him. Her nose felt cold against his neck.

"I want to open it," she whispered.

Someone banged on the door and made them both start.

"Oi, are you two decent?" James shouted.

"We're clothed if that's what you mean!" Eilidh shouted back, laughing to herself.

Sirius jumped to his feet, ready to drag James out if need be.

"We brought every grain of sugar they had left in the kitchen," Marlene announced, carrying arms full of baskets. "They were probably preparing for the feast we have before Holiday but there's still time -"

"We're just going to wait outside," Sirius said. "Let us know when you need us," he told Eilidh as he pushed the stunned Marlene and James out.

"Mate, she said she needed us," James argued.

"Yeah, well she asked to be alone for a second first," Sirius said, using the wall to sink to the floor. Marlene and James looked at each other, grumbled, then sank to the floor next to him.

Marlene passed him a pear tart.

"Did you leave Remus the chocolate cake?" James asked, rummaging through the baskets.

"I had to leave him with something," Marlene said. "He's all alone down there."

"He volunteered himself," James argued.

Sirius did his best to block out their bickering and listen for any signs of distress coming from within. It remained quiet.

"What do you think they sent her?" Sirius asked, interrupting Marlene calling James a gluttonous twit.

James shrugged. "Probably just pictures and stuff. It felt like books."

"That'd be nice for her to have. Just in time for Christmas too," Marlene said.

"Yeah, she said something about usually spending it with her father. I was trying to -"

"She told you that?" Sirius asked. She had never said anything about that to him. He had assumed that the holiday would be hard for her, Christmas was usually the time people thought about their families the most, but he didn't think it would be that bad.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep one night and neither could she and we were just talking," James shrugged.

"Is that also when you were talking about me?" Sirius challenged, sounding more irritated than he meant to.

"Yeah, I guess, you're mutual between us, so yeah. You come up quite a bit," James said, his brow frowning.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you found something else to talk about other than me. I don't need you telling my girlfriend your stupid stories," Sirius said.

"Mate, you alright? Did you two have a row or something?" James asked.

"Oh, shut up," Sirius grumbled.

"Someone's manstrating," Marlene said, rolling her widened eyes.

"Eilidh was upset that she learns more about me from you so just shut up," Sirius said, somewhat defensively. "Both of you." He was being defensive and had been for quite some time. He very rarely let his guard down these days and it was getting exhausting, which only made things worse, but he didn't know how to stop. So, he just kept going with his bitter remarks and side glances to those closest to him, everyone else just got decked. He was actually starting to scare himself. He had adopted the nervous habit of scratching at the hemline of his trousers, the fabric on this particular pair was starting to wear. He noticed this and clenched his fists so he would stop.

"Mate, it's just heirlooms," James said, sounding like he thought Sirius was being ridiculous. James, of course, would have noticed Sirius's adopted habit, he noticed everything (unless Lily was around.)

"Fine," Sirius said an edge still in his voice.

James looked irritably confused. "Did something else happen?"

"No," Sirius said lightly, meeting James's eye, daring him to argue. He didn't. In fact, James, for the first time in history, nodded his head and let it go. However, if Sirius knew his friend as well as he thought he did, and he did, James was far from finished. He was probably making a list of all the things he could do to make Sirius relax which probably involved a lot of sneaking around in the middle of the night and probably a little help from Gabe Pevensie. Even still, Sirius didn't get his hopes up. He was a rather intuitive person and at the moment he had the feeling that something was about to go horribly and terribly wrong which would most probably interrupt James's plans.

"It's been quiet in there for a while," Marlene observed, tilting her head as she strained to hear through their door. "Maybe you should go in," she told Sirius.

"No, she'll tell us when she's ready," Sirius said, certainly.

"Or she can't because she's crying her eyes out," Marlene argued.

"Then we should wait for Lily," Sirius returned. He was terrible at comforting people and very good at distracting them so when she was ready for a distraction, he'd be ready and waiting.

"Yeah," Marlene sighed and settled more comfortably against the wall.

James wore a curious expression like he was physically biting his tongue. Sirius didn't really care, whatever James had to say was bound to be critical, the kind he deemed constructive and Sirius found annoying.

"I wonder if Peter's still in History," James said, sounding conversational which didn't at all match his expression. "He'd be useful right now, with his, erm, talent for -"

"Did he ever turn in his transfigurations homework?" Sirius asked, pointedly, hoping James understood that Peter's map was in his transfigurations book which was in the dormitory stacked up with theirs on the writing desk.

"We had transfigurations homework?" Marlene asked, slightly panicked.

"It's late. He was supposed to turn it in before first but I don't know if he did," James said, specifically to Sirius for the last part. He assumed it meant that James thought the map could be in another place.

The sound of hurried footsteps climbing the stairs ended all need to figure out the map's location. James jumped to his feet and Sirius tried hard not to be annoyed by it as he and Marlene scrambled to follow.

"Why aren't you lot with her?" Lily demanded as she pushed past James. She almost walked into Frank Longbottom's dormitory which always emitted a strange smell that was enough to make them avoid it at all cost. Sirius for a split second contemplated letting her walk in.

"Erm that's -" James had reached out to catch Lily's arm, freaked about the contact and pulled away quickly. "It's this one." He knocked on the door before opening it for her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, looking a little shy which only annoyed Sirius.

The door closed and with a slight blush to his cheeks, James began: "Do you think she's starting to like me?"

"Because she said thanks?" Sirius asked.

"Because she didn't pull away when I touched her," James said.

"Only because you pulled away before she got a chance to," Sirius argued.

"Yeah, maybe," James sighed and leaned against the wall, looking melancholy as ever.

"I thought you were getting over her?" Sirius asked.

"I am over her. I just," he shrugged, "I thought we could be friends. And then… yeah."  
"And then she chose Snape," Sirius said, truthfully, probably brutally.

James nodded and picked at some invisible crack in the wall's paint.

"I'm sure there'll come a day when Snape fucks up so badly she'll have to stop making excuses for him but until then -"

"Yeah, yeah, I know Sirius. It's not that simple," James said, sounding much older than he actually was. James had moments like these, rare but profound. Remus blamed it on James's having older parents. Sirius blamed it on James being an old soul but who really knew? All that Sirius knew was there were times when James said something that struck Sirius. 'It's not that simple' did it this time. Maybe because it made him realise that his perception of James being simple, laid back, an all cards on the table kind of bloke was wrong and that James was much more complex. Or maybe that James was actually in love with Lily Evans and that was a concept Sirius was only beginning to understand.

"If it makes any difference, I agree with Sirius," Marlene said. She was standing with her back to the wall, invisible to the pair of them until now. "I also agree with James when it comes to you and Eilidh. Conclusion, just listen to each other's love advice."

Sirius rolled his eyes. James laughed.

"Now that your emotional turmoil is over, can we focus on our damsel in distress?" Marlene said. "I vote we go in," she raised her hand.

"Seconded," James raised his.

"Merlin's balls," Sirius grumbled as he walked through the door. He was met with a surprisingly calm scene. He didn't know what he had been expecting but it wasn't this: A trail of dusty books, yellowing papers, and tarnished nicknacks leading up to Lily and Eilidh who were smiling. The girls looked up when they entered the room. There was a signature of old tears on Eilidh's cheeks but now there was a fire in her eyes that he had only seen once. Something was terribly wrong.

* * *

 *****Jane Turnleaf, James is feeling very discouraged as one would be after facing years of wishy-washy rejection. Fortunately for us Jily shippers, he has little to no self-control. The great thing about Sirius dating one of her friends is that they get thrown together in some incredibly tense situations - situations that bring out the best in both of them which could potentially lead to some developments *cough* seventh year *cough* baby Harry. :D**

 *****Son of Whitebeard, issues for daaaaays!**

 *****Love Fiction 2018, thank you dear :)**

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 *****Um, obviously, I'm planning on making it up to you guys by posting again tomorrow.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

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 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	70. Lily

By the time Lily had entered the boys' dormitory, Eilidh hadn't even touched the box. With her head in her hands and the box at her feet, Eilidh sat at the writing desk in front of a wall of pictures Lily was never supposed to see. Every time she had been in here that wall had been covered up with bed sheets, now she understood why. But now was not the time for curiosities nor the time for annoying warm feelings about James Potter.

In all the years Lily had known Eilidh, there was only one problem that she didn't face head-on, and that was her family. So, it didn't come as a surprise to Lily when she walked into the boys' dormitory to find Eilidh sitting at the desk, her box untouched, with a blank and far away expression. To her benefit, she probably spent the entire time she had been alone trying to motivate herself just to cut through the packaging tape.

Eilidh hadn't started when Potter had knocked on the door, nor did she look up when Lily walked in. Lily wondered at how to make her presence known without startling her friend. She began with softly clearing her throat, then when that didn't work she gently said, "Eilidh?"

She started, but not as much as Lily thought she would, and swiveled the chair around.

"Hey." Her smile was not ingenuine which was a relief because Eilidh was truly okay and their petty arguments hadn't done permanent damage to their friendship.

"What're you doing?" Lily asked. She moved to lean against the writing desk. Those pictures really were distracting.

"I'm… I don't know," Eilidh admitted.

"Do you actually want to open that thing?" Lily asked, gesturing to the box with her foot.

Eilidh started fidgeting with her fingers. "I should," she said, her voice a little shaky.

"I asked if you wanted to," Lily reiterated. Eilidh bit her lip as her eyes started to water. She looked down trying to hide the fact that she was crying and took a deep breath.

"Could you just open it for me?" she asked the chair. "It's just so much worse not knowing what's in it. I don't know why."

"You don't have to explain." Lily knelt to the ground, scratched up a bit of tape, and hesitated. She was a bit nervous herself now. What could Eilidh have gotten from her muggle father that could be so bad? It was best to just rip it off like a band-aid.

The sound of the tape ripping off the cardboard box filled the room at almost a deafening volume. Lily flicked the tape off her fingers and flipped the boxes lid open. She looked up at Eilidh who was looking down at the box like it might have been her father's corpse.

"Who's that from?" Eilidh whispered, pointing at a white envelope placed carefully on top. It was the only thing that wasn't covered in a thin layer of dust. Lily wondered how long this box had been packed before they sent it.

"There's no return address." All that was written was Eilidh's name in feminine cursive. Lily placed the letter in Eilidh's outstretched hand. She tried to look around the black plastic clothing bag that sat on top but she couldn't see anything save a corner of what she assumed to be an embroidered photo album. She didn't want to move it without Eilidh's permission so she sat in silence and waited.

Eilidh face was impassive as she read through the letter then folded it and placed it back in the envelope when she was finished.

"It was from my grandmother. He left my uncle, his brother, the house, his car to my cousin Tommy, and me everything else," she said. "I kind of wanted the house," she laughed humorlessly. "He was there, you know?" She shrugged, trying not to look disappointed.

"You're not ungrateful just because you wanted his house. That was your home too," Lily said, knowingly.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, this is just the stuff that was left after they cleared out the house," Eilidh said, looking out the window past Lily. "They sold all his clothes and stuff and put the money in his accounts. Which I'll get when I come of age."

"There are clothes in here," Lily told her, pointing to the black bag. "At least I think."

Her eyes snapped down to the box. "It's probably just the clothes I left there. My grandmother said they sold everything."

Lily could tell she was trying not to get her hopes up. She could only wonder why Eilidh wanted her father's clothes so much.

"Well you never know until you open it," Lily said, encouragingly. She picked up the bag, it was heavy, too heavy to be whatever Eilidh would wear during the summer.

Eilidh nodded and slid out of the chair to sit next to Lily.

She unzipped the bag revealing a brown leather jacket with wool lining the collar. The airplane printed on the back was slightly faded but otherwise, it was kept in pristine condition. Eilidh sighed in relief when she saw it.

"He was in world war two. He would be so pissed if they had sold this," Eilidh said, running her hands down the orange lining. A patch of the British flag was sewed roughly onto the sleeve and the zipper had been fixed by inexperienced hands. Apparently, he didn't trust anyone else but himself touching it.

"I didn't know he was old enough to be in the war? Didn't you say your parents were pretty young when they had you?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, he lied about his age, and they were desperate enough for people to allow it," Eilidh explained.

"Some really bad things happened to them, Eilidh," Lily said. All of her life she had heard horror stories about things that happened in the war, it would have been terrible for something like that to happen to someone not even old enough to sign up, and the fact that the government had allowed it happen.

Eilidh smiled at her understandingly. "He was always really proud of himself. He said that if he hadn't done something, it would have been his biggest regret," she said, zipping the jacket back in the plastic bag. "Besides, he wasn't the only one, a bunch of his friends from school went and did it with him and all but one got in."

Lily clenched her jaw. This was all hitting very close to home now. She couldn't count the number of times she had heard someone saying that it was their duty to fight in the war, Eilidh herself had said it, in one way or another. And maybe Lily had believed it too but she had the sense to wait until after Hogwarts, when they were of age, and could only hope that her friends would have the same sense because Merlin knew that she wouldn't be able to convince them should they make up their minds without her.

"Let's look at the rest of this. All this talk of wars is…" she didn't have the words for it, mostly because she didn't want to admit that she was afraid. Eilidh reached out and squeezed her hand.

"We're different," Eilidh said. "They got split up. We'll stick together. Always. No matter what," she vowed.

Lily's heart rose to her throat. While Eilidh's kind words were meant to be reassuring, Lily was filled with nothing but dread. It made her wonder what happened to her father's friends. What would happen to her friends if - when they went down the same path? She opened her mouth to ask the question but the words seemed to be caught in her throat. So she let Eilidh dig through the box with a sort of bittersweet smile, watched as she pulled out photo album after photo album, several books on either psychology or chemistry, and silently prayed; to what or who she didn't know, she didn't even know what her prayer was about, she just kept saying, 'please, please, please.'

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 **XO**


	71. Eilidh

She really was annoyingly overdramatic. She didn't know why she had been so spooked about receiving her inheritance, (part of it anyway.) She knew her mother would say that it was just a cry for attention and maybe it was but she could deny the pit that had been in her stomach, nor the way her hands simply refused to cut the tape. She should have known that having these things would bring her comfort. Before it was simply she once had a father and now she didn't. Like losing her father had created some sort of rift in her life, there was only a before and an after but now, with every picture she explained to her friends, every note in the margin of her father's old textbook, it was like she was sewing her before life and her after life back together.

She didn't have a father anymore and that fact still cut like a dull, rusty, serrated knife through her heart but she did once have a father, he was real and wonderful, and funny, and smart, and nothing, not a million Death Eaters, or a dozen Delaney Nicnevins could take that away from her. She was so happy at that moment that her hands were shaking and her eyes brimmed with tears as she sat around the slightly banged up cardboard box with a million little stamps on it, telling the story of the camping trip she and her _family_ took the summer after first year. They all laughed at the appropriate places and listened attentively; they probably didn't care as much as they pretended to but she didn't care because in this very moment Eilidh felt warm, and whole, and like _Eilidh_ again for the first time in a long time.

Sirius sat right next to her, with his arm around her shoulder, occasionally kissing her cheek. Remus sat beside him wearing his crooked smile, a healthy colour in his cheeks for once. Peter was beside him, awkwardly trying not to look at Mary but had done so a few times anyway. He busied his hands by twisting his shoelaces around his fingers. Marlene sat beside him with a knitted blanket draped around her shoulders. Then Mary laid out on her stomach, absentmindedly playing with her braided hair. James sat next to her, his back incredibly straight, his hair an absolute mess, as he bounced his crossed knees unable to hold in his excitement. Lily was next to him and for Eilidh's sake had been civil, friendly even with him. Josie had skipped class to join them, she stretched out with her feet crossed in front of her and head resting on Peter's bed.

"What's wrong, love?" Sirius asked. He had no doubt noticed the tears that had formed in her eyes and had assumed sadness and she had been just laughing a second ago. He couldn't understand just how happy she was then. She couldn't understand it herself.

Eilidh shook her head and closed the photo album. "Nothing," she said, the tears in her eye blurring their images. "I just love you guys. A lot. And I appreciate you all being there for me all the time."

They all made a varying expression of 'aw.' Lily reached forward and took her hand.

"You'd do the same for us. We all love you too," she said with a warm smile.

Eilidh laughed because she couldn't do anything else. They all looked at each other with gushing, embarrassingly emotional smiles.

"Just to be clear, Sirius loves you way more than the rest of us do," James said.

Most of them laughed, Sirius made an extremely rude hand gesture, and Lily sighed a disapproving, "James!"

"What? I have a reputation to uphold," was James's defence.

Lily rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"We all know you're a ponce," Sirius said, with more vehemence than was needed.

"Bite me," James returned, equally. Their tension cut through the warmth in the room like a knife through warmed butter.

Eilidh poked Sirius's side to interrupt his rebuttal and said, "we should be getting to class. McGonagall's not going to allow the whole day."

"We've only missed charms," Josie protested.

"Damn, Archer," Sirius said, with a quirked brow, "you should have a psychotic break more often."

"Shut up, Black," Josie returned, but she was smiling when she looked away.

"Yeah, mate, psychotic breaks aren't funny," James said.

"James!" Sirius said, threateningly.

The room was filled with a heavy uncomfortable silence as the two boys started each other down. Something had to be done about this.

"Okay," Eilidh swung her leg so she was straddling Sirius and placed her hands firmly on his shoulders to force him to break eye contact with James. The two were no different than dogs. "You have been way too stressed recently and need a break," she told him. "Everything is getting put on hold. No more investigating, no more fights, no more personal problems from anyone, including yourself."

He didn't agree but he wasn't going to argue either.

"James, start planning a meaningless prank with a _random_ target," Eilidh ordered. "Remus, find some event or something nearby that we can go to. Peter, get the camera ready."

"I can do more than get the camera," Peter protested, bitterly.

"I know but right now the camera is very important. This weekend is going to be epic," Eilidh said. Sirius swallowed, looking like he had a thousand things to say but wasn't going to say a word. She brushed the hair out of his eyes. "I promise."

Sirius nodded, sighed a long sigh, and allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch into a half smile.

"Well, I'd love to be a part of the fun but I've got to study. Sorry, love," Lily said.

"Falling behind in class are we, Evans?" James asked, looking rather arrogant in his attempt to be sympathetic.

"You wish, Potter," Lily glowered at him then bent to kiss Eilidh's cheek before leaving.

"I'll go buy film for the camera," Peter said lamely and followed Lily out.

"We really should get to class," Marlene said reluctantly. She stretched and Josie and Mary made to follow.

"Actually, Mary would you mind walking with me?" Remus asked, "I have some things I'd like to discuss with you."

James's jaw dropped off its hinge and Sirius went suspiciously still. Eilidh could only conclude that they knew about Mary and Peter. But of course they knew, they were best friends, and Peter had been acting strangely recently, and they weren't the type to let that slide. It was probably the reason behind all their secrecy. A guard she wasn't consciously holding against them dropped the moment the thought occurred to her.

Mary nodded, looked at Eilidh to see if she knew anything, and allowed Remus to guide her out before Marlene and Josie. Sirius attempt to get up to follow Marlene but Eilidh wouldn't let him. Finally, the room was empty apart from herself, Sirius, and James.

"What is it?" she asked Sirius.

James turned away from whatever he was fiddling with in his bedside table and started to stride out.

"James, please stay," Eilidh requested.

James froze, nodded, and turned back to his bedside table, his tension palpable. "Okay but, you've got to get off him," James said, attempting to joke and ease the tension. "I'm not seeing what I saw in the do-"

"Shut up, James," Sirius growled.

Eilidh pushed him. "He's only teasing," she said, trying hard not to raise her voice. If she was going to actually help them, she needed to stay calm or she'd only escalate the situation. Eilidh got up and sat at the desk chair again. She took deep breaths as she watched them purposefully not look at each other and not talk to each other.

"I thought we settled this that day in the shack," Eilidh said. Sirius shrugged. James didn't acknowledge this comment at all. "James, will you sit down please?"

James did she asked and sat on the side of his bed with his back to her and Sirius. Sirius rolled his eyes and jutted his jaw.

"Okay, since James doesn't want to talk, Sirius you go first," Eilidh prompted.

Sirius shrugged like he didn't know why she thought there was a problem or something to discuss. "Every time we plan something big, we come back and something terrible happens. If we're going to take the night off, I'd rather just have a quiet night in."

"When's the last time something terrible happened? Hell, when's the last time we planned something big?"James demanded.

"Do you not remember being in the hospital? I suppose you wouldn't because you were a _vegetable_ ," Sirius said.

"Wow, that fight really fucked you up. Surprising considering you weren't in it!" James shouted so loudly he was pushed to his feet.

Eilidh pulled her sleeves over her hands. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Sirius scoffed, shook his head, and looked away. He was cold and was presenting a seamless indifferent air. It was terrifying to watch, like everything she knew and held dear could be ripped apart at any second. James, on the other hand, continued to pace around the room, his anger hardening his shoulders, his jaw muscles pulsing. She wished she had asked Remus to stay. If things got physical between them she didn't know if she could stop it.

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt. I'm sorry, Eilidh, it was a nice sentiment -"

"You know, some of us could do with a bit of fun for a change!" James said.

"Fine," Sirius said, coldly.

"Yeah, maybe Eilidh and I will go and you can stay and have your night in," James said, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms. Eilidh moved subtly lest her head make contact with his elbow, his movements were unpredictable at the moment.

"Have fun," Sirius said, truly sounding as if he didn't care either way. Eilidh started biting her nails, a nervous and 'disgusting' habit she tried to keep under control.

"We will," James said.

"Fuck you," Sirius muttered. It was the first emotional thing he had said to James all day and, however rude, it was enough to untether her knotted stomach.

"What happened to you two?" she said quietly. She was afraid she hadn't been heard but James's mouth shut audibly. "You two are best friends. Sirius, you told me you didn't know where you'd be without him. James, I know you love him. He's like your brother. So what the hell happened?"

"He blames you," Sirius said. Eilidh went cold. She felt all the blood drain from her. James blamed her for coming between them? What else could have meant? But why?

"That's not - he - I don't blame you," James told her, calmly but sternly.

"Bull shit, " Sirius muttered.

"I really don't, " James said, earnestly, then, turning to Sirius, "what I do blame is your inability to let things go!" He sighed heavily and mumbled, "and my doing something stupid, of course."

The air had changed again. It had become thick with awkward contrition radiating off all parties. Eilidh didn't know what to think, she just knew that she couldn't come between Sirius and James; that was possibly the worst outcome that she hadn't even imagined. What she had done to disturb this peace, she didn't know, nor did it matter.

"Sirius, I don't know what you want me to do. You don't want me to fess up, there's no way to undo it. I've been trying. I don't know what you want, " James said, his voice cracking a little. Sirius pursed his lips and leaned against Peter's bed, his cold indifference back again. "Please." The word escaped James's lips softly yet so ardently that Eilidh was embarrassed to have heard it.

It was enough for Sirius to nod in a way that only a boy could, the simple gesture conveying so many words and emotions it was equivalent to her and Lily's soul-baring midnight conversations.

"I really don't know what's wrong with me, " Sirius said quietly, almost like he was embarrassed to admit it.

"Maybe Eilidh's right, maybe it's the stress of everything. I know I'd be freaked if I saw you like that…. And, you know, Haas and everything, " James added reluctantly. He was still willing to do anything if it meant Sirius would welcome him back into his good graces, even if it meant accepting Sirius's wild theory about Professor Haas.

"Yeah, maybe, " Sirius shrugged.

"It doesn't have to be anything big, " Eilidh said, her voice sounding weaker than she had intended. She cleared her throat and added, "just as long as it's fun."

"Yeah. We could all use some fun, " Sirius nodded, decidedly.

"Exactly! And, erm, " she smiled brightly, "I could use some girl time. So, as long as no one gets concussed, you lot can get into as much trouble as you want -"

This sent both of them into an unintelligible uproar. It startled her enough to make her jump.

"You two need to spend some quality time together and you can't do that if I'm in the way, " Eilidh said, sternly.

"You're not in the way, " Sirius said furiously. "I was just angry and lashing out. Rule number one, don't listen to Sirius when he's being an arse."

"Some time apart will be good for us. It's not healthy to spend every waking moment together, " Eilidh argued.

"You're _our_ friend, " James said. "I don't know how many times I have to say that!" He threw his hands up in the air then rested them on his hips.

"And I'm still your friend. We're going to see each other but for now just at meals and in class, " Eilidh said, firmly but gently.

"You're being ridiculous, Eilidh, " Sirius said. "Look, I'm sorry I told you. I didn't mean to involve you at all. I was just taking a cheap shot at James."

"So, he does feel like I'm coming between you two?" Eilidh clarified. "If you're not sorry for lying, only sorry for telling me, then it's true."

Sirius huffed. "That's not what I said."

"You literally did though, " Eilidh returned.

"Eilidh, " James sighed.

"James, " Sirius said warningly.

"Relax mate. Listen, a long time ago, I did _or said_ something stupid at your expense and Sirius rightfully defended you. I, being the stupid bloke that I am, took offence and accused Sirius of choosing you over me, " James explained. "Then Sirius helped clear my head and see that I was just being an idiot because of the shit that had happened unrelated to you or him. And like he said he was just taking a cheap shot at me because I feel guilty about what I said. So, really you having to give us time without you is ridiculous."

Eilidh took such a long time before responding that Sirius felt compelled to speak.

"Everything he said was true. You really shouldn't listen to me when I'm upset. I say stupid shit all the time, " Sirius said.

"Okay. I'm going to say something and I don't want either of you to get angry or hurt about it, okay?" Eilidh waited to receive their nervous nods of reluctant assent. She primarily addressed Sirius; it was unfair to James to feel left out regardless of what was going on and this _needed_ to be fixed above all else. "We need to respect James's feelings, no matter what. If he feels like I'm coming between you two, it's only fair and decent to set aside some time for him. I don't care what was going on, " she said quickly to dispel any argument his opened mouth was going to make. "I need to spend time with my friends. You boys need alone time to be boys. No one needs to feel hurt about it, no one needs to feel left out. We're still good. We're still friends, " Eilidh added for James's sake.

There was a moment of silence as Eilidh's word seeped in. Sirius wrestled with wanting to argue and Eilidh not giving him room to argue. James watched Sirius nervously chewing his bottom lip.

"If we're going to do this, we need to organize actual dates for you two, " James declared.

"That sounds nice, " Eilidh smiled.

"Great, " Sirius said, not sounding at all great. "We should get to class, " Sirius grumbled and led the way out.

It didn't feel like she had reconciled any friendship. She felt more like she did when her mother dragged her to her meetings with the Ministry; there were back and forth debates, 'compromises, ' and someone was always left unsatisfied. 'Great' was exactly the way to describe it.

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 **Until next time,**

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	72. Mary

It should be known that at this point things at Hogwarts had cooled down for the rest of the school. Months had passed since the last major incident that blatantly pointed out the Death Eaters at Hogwarts. James's trip to the Hospital wing was a subject vastly discussed but no one felt the need to take sides. While certain people were avoided, the houses now mingled freely as they did in the years before. The Great Hall's house tables were guidelines easily and enthusiastically ignored. Even the Professor's ignored their assigned seats as they talked over dinner, Dumbledore excluded; he remained in his high backed chair, deep in thought as his fingers leisurely tapped his chin, his meal long forgotten. His eyes snaked up and down the four tables and back again. The corners of his mouth twitch into a smile when he saw first-year Gilderoy Lockhart laugh so hard pumpkin juice squirted out of his nose. Not far down the way was Regulus Black, little Barty Crouch, and Lucas Nicnevin, watching in aw as a seventh year transfigured his own fingers into silverware. Even further along the way was a large clump of stubborn Gryffindor boys. They were perhaps the loudest and seemed to have the most fun. Dumbledore paused on this group, his forefinger tracing the curved of his bottom lip. Then came a smaller group; Persephone Machault, Mary MacDonald, and Bertha Jorkins having a rather intense discussion.

Bertha's mouth was moving at a mile a minute as the younger girls hung to every word she uttered. Mary and Persephone were closeted gossipers and usually only hung around Bertha where not too many people would see them but when Bertha Jorkins takes you by the hand and whispers "you will not believe what I just found out!" she was hard to resist. Mary quietly led Bertha and Persephone next to a loud group so they wouldn't be overheard and were less likely to be seen with everyone's attention being on Gabe Pevensie's baritone echoing out a crude version of a common Christmas carol.

"First, Johnie Waters is a total lesbian," Bertha started before she had even settled onto the bench. "Second, there's an entire club of them."

"You know being a lesbian doesn't make you a circus freak, right?" Persephone asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, I know that!" Bertha said, waving her off. "The point is, there's an entire club of them, like a big club, right under our noses and no one knows about it. Except for them."

Mary focused all her energy on remaining seated while she bit her tongue. She may have been a gossip but she was a gossip with boundaries and those boundaries were clear when it came to her friends. She longed for nothing more than to jump up and tell Marlene.

"So where do they meet?" Mary asked. If she couldn't run to Marlene she could at least gather more information.

"I don't. Johnie wouldn't tell me anything, she denied the whole thing," Bertha told her. She went into how rude Johnie was.

"But how do they join if no one knows about it?" Mary interrupted.

"Just like any other secret club, I guess, they come to you," Bertha said. "They probably watch to see who's checking out other girls or - hey, there's a thought." Bertha thrummed her fingers on the table wearing an expression that could only mean trouble.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Persephone asked Mary, her tone implying that she'd very much like to get out of there before Bertha dragged them into whatever insane plan she was hatching.

"Probably," Mary said, nodding in agreement. The younger girls quickly gathered their things and scampered off.

"Hey, wait! What were you thinking?" Bertha called after them.

Neither of them looked back. They zigzagged through the strewn rucksacks and went straight to Marlene. They sat down so suddenly that they startled poor Alice Prewett into spilling her stew into her lap.

"Sorry!" Persephone scrambled for napkins while Alice calmly used her wand to clean up the mess.

"No worries," Alice said, pushing the stew away from her to avoid further injury.

"Marls," Mary said, "I have something important to tell you."

"It's huge," Persephone added. "Life altering huge!"

"Alright. Out with it," Marlene said, giving them her full attention.

Mary hesitated. She knew Marlene and Alice were close, as close as sisters, but had Marlene told Alice yet?

"There's a club that you should talk to Johnie Waters about joining," Mary said.

"Johnie Waters?" Marlene asked in disbelief. "As in the Slytherin Quidditch Captain Johnie Waters?"

"The one and only," Persephone said. Mary, hearing the defensiveness in her voice, made a point to smile at her.

"Right, well no offense Seph - or you Mary, but why would I want to join a club with Johnie Waters?" Marlene questioned.

Mary hadn't thought about that and she didn't know how to argue her point without forcefully outing Marlene.

"Let's just say you two might have more in common than you think," Persephone said.

Mary nodded enthusiastically.

Marlene sighed. She didn't seem as excited about this as Mary hoped she would be.

"Marls, she's _interested_ in what your interested in," Mary said, the implications so heavily there she was afraid the second years next to them would catch on. When her meaning finally dawned on Marlene she was taken aback, speechless even.

"So, it's some sort of Quidditch club, but for all the teams?" Alice asked, seeming interested herself.

"No, it's a different interest," Persephone answered, awkwardly.

Marlene simply stared at Mary with an unfathomable expression. For a moment Mary thought Marlene was upset with her: Maybe she thought Mary had told Johnie about their shared interest.

"Johnie Waters?" Marlene said again in disbelief.

"Yup," Mary said, relieved.

"I mean… what! Wasn't she with Cresswell? And that other bloke?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah, but you were with -"

"Yeah, but this is Johnie Waters!" Marlene exclaimed. People were beginning to look.

Alice seemed to catch onto what was going on, which was somewhat of a relief. They no longer had to speak in half-hidden sentences.

"Marly," Alice took Marlene's hand, "go talk to her."

Marlene didn't need telling twice. She walked speedily toward the Slytherin table for the first time in probably ever, got halfway there, and turned back.

"Come with me," Marlene said, offering her hand to Mary. She was somewhat surprised that she hadn't offered her hand to Alice but she took it gladly. How they were going to get Johnie Waters to listen to them, on Slytherin territory, and after she had been attacked by Bertha Jorkins, was beyond her.

This time Marlene didn't stop walking or dragging Mary until she stopped abruptly in front of Johnie.

Mary vaguely remembered Eilidh referring to Johnie as a badass, this was before they understood the depth of the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry, but she did look like someone Eilidh would consider badass. Johnie could only be described as a punk with her messily chopped and poorly bleached hair, dark makeup, loud, clashing patterned clothes, ripped up tights, and safety pinned boots. She watched Marlene and Mary approach through her peripheral vision, dropped her bread roll when Marlene screeched to a halt in front of her and flicked the crumbs off her fingers. She was surprised to see them, Mary could tell, but was making an effort to not convey this emotion. Marlene didn't seem to be able to speak and Mary didn't know what to say. The three of them stared at each other.

"Yeah?" Johnie demanded.

"Sorry," Marlene said, seeming to wake up from some sort of haze. "Sorry, this was a dare. Stupid kid thing, you know?" Marlene walked away faster than she did coming.

"Er…" Mary didn't know where the boundaries were with this one. Was this something she should push Marlene into? It was for her own good. But how could she push Marlene into something she wasn't ready for?

Johnie blinked at her expectantly. Mary said nothing as she walked away.

She found Marlene jumping in a far corner, shaking the nerves out of her hands.

"Marls?" Mary approached, slowly, ready to run for Lily or Alice or whoever Marlene needed.

"Yeah. No. I'm good. I'm good," she drawled out the last word like she was trying to convince herself of it. "Ooh, desserts starting!"

Not a word was spoken for the rest of the night about Johnie, about secret clubs, or none the likes. They stuck to safe topics like Quidditch or class assignments and study schedules. It dawned on Mary that she might have to do a risky and possibly brave thing, though she still didn't know if it was the right thing.

She decided to talk Johnie after dinner. Maybe Johnie would be willing to give Mary a name, someone who wouldn't be as intimidating to Marlene as Johnie was. Or at least give her some advice on how to be more supportive of Marlene during this time. Whatever this time was, it was obviously difficult for her. And she was sure the Johnie would understand and not say anything to anyone about Marlene. So it was decided.

Mary very casually fell behind her group of friends as they left with the main crowd. Johnie, as usual, still sat at the Slytherin table, waiting for the crowd to settle before making her way out. She didn't know which would be better, to approach Johnie again, or wait for her by the doors. She decided to wait. Mary took out her reading assignment for Charms while she did, so she wouldn't get bored and impatient. This turned out to be a mistake because Johnie probably realized that Mary was waiting for her, decided to scare her by sneaking up behind her, and uttered a gruff, "what?"

Mary gasped, jumped, and stuffed her book back into her bag.

"Erm, hi," Mary said, straightening her hair. "I'm Mary MacDonald. And my friend was Marlene McKinnon."

"Good for you and your friend. What do you want from me?" Johnie questioned.

"Er, nothing really. My friend… she's. Well, she's like you," Mary said. Johnie looked at her like she was the stupidest person in all of Hogwarts and indeed she felt like it. "I mean she likes girls."

"Okay?" Johnie said.

"I was just hoping you could befriend her or give some advice at least," Mary shrugged, feeling more foolish with every word she spoke.

"Best advice I can give you is don't tiptoe around her like she's got some fucking disease. You can be friends with the werewolf chick you can be friends with her, no problem," Johnie scoffed.

Mary didn't even know where to begin with that statement so she left it alone.

"Okay, what about the club?" Mary asked.

"You don't get to know about that," Johnie said, defensively.

"But does Marlene?" Mary pressed.

Johnie started to back away.

"When she's ready," she said, which sounded like a promise.

"Is there someone she can talk to, to help her get ready?" Mary had to almost yell after Johnie.

"Don't worry about it!" Johnie told her, right before she disappeared into the dungeons.

Great. So she outed her friend behind her back and the only thing she got out of it was don't treat her like a leaper. She was going to tell Eilidh about how much her proclaimed badass sucked at giving advice in the hopes that she would know what to do to make this right.

* * *

 *****Sorry guys, it's the holiday season and I work in retail, it's the busiest time for me.**

 **As always, thank you for your patience and for reading.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	73. The Game Is On

James decided it was best if he avoided Pevensie for the time being. So, while Sirius used Pevensie to distract himself from his current predicament with Eilidh, James snuck away, not unnoticed, but his friends respected his privacy enough not to ask. He wandered aimlessly around the castle, munching on a chicken leg, and contemplating how much time he would have to spend alone just to avoid Pevensie.

There was quite a lot of people wandering around the castle (a lot of people for dinner time, that is) and being alone surrounded by people is entirely different and much worse than being alone by yourself. So, despite the cold and despite having only the jumper his mother made for him, he went outside. Snow fell into his shoes within the first few steps. His cheeks stung against the icy breeze. Still, he went on, listening to the deafening crunch of his footsteps in the snow, amazed by how _white_ everything was, even the evening sky seemed paler.

And then there she was, a spot of colour around the corner, feeding a few stray birds were late to the migration party. In this lighting, her hair looked darker than usual and yet somehow redder. She wore blue, his favourite colour on her for the way it complemented her skin. She spotted him forcing him to abandon his plan to walk away. Retreating would have looked like cowardice.

"Alright, Evans?" James greeted, his breath an icy hand squeezing his heart.

"What are you doing out here?" Lily answered. "Aren't you freezing?"

"It's not that cold," he shrugged.

"If it's cold enough for snow, it's cold enough for a jacket," she said, shaking her head. "Here," she pulled her scarf free of the knot around her neck.

He bent so she could wrap it around him. He couldn't help but remember the night he kept her warm under his arm. Had that really been almost three months ago?

"What are you doing out here?" Lily asked again, stepping back to about an arm's length away. It did not go unnoticed.

"I just went for a walk," he shrugged, trying to not make it obvious that he really liked the smell of her scarf.

"Needed some time alone?" she guessed.

"No," James laughed, "no, I hate being alone actually. It's just better than what's going on in there. At the moment."

"Because of what's going on with you and Sirius?" she wondered, taking a step or two closer to him. It did not go unnoticed. He resisted the urge to fix his hair.

"Nothing's going on with me and Sirius," James said with a furrow in his brow. He took half a step closer, testing the waters. "What's with you and Eilidh?"

"Nothing," she said, shifting away. Again, it didn't go unnoticed.

"Good." James took a step backwards.

She was hesitating. He could see it in the way she bit her lip and squinted at the ground between their feet, her footsteps were still marked in the snow - he didn't like the reminder.

"Can I tell you something without it going straight to your head?" she asked.

"Probably not but tell me anyway. I could use the ego boost," James said, seriously.

Lily laughed and shook her head at him.

"I'm happy she's friends with you," she admitted. "You're a good friend. You're a good _person._ Unless you don't like someone, then…" she laughed, ruefully, bringing up everything that stood between them.

He knew Snape was a dangerous subject for them. But, maybe this was finally the right time to explain himself. She had to listen to reason at some point.

"That's not entirely my fault," he said. As soon as he said it he realised he made a mistake. He had thrown a rock at a glass house and what lay around them were the shattered remains of their delicate peace.

Lily's mouth opened to form the words she so dearly wanted to say. Then she sighed, giving up.

"I'm cold. And hungry. I'm going to head back," taking a few steps back.

"Wait," James stumbled forward. "Just walk around the lake with me. We don't have to talk, I just…."

"Don't like being alone," Lily finished.

"You can wear my jumper if you really are cold," James offered, tugging on his collar. He was still wearing her scarf but he didn't really want to give that up yet.

She smiled at him.

"And if I'm really hungry?" she challenged.

"I'll chop off my arm so you can eat it," he said, seriously.

"Gross James! I thought you were going to offer to hunt me a deer or something," Lily grinned.

"That would be barbaric," he gasped, clutching his chest.

So they walked around the lake for a bit, at first in silence. James was kind enough to let Lily break it, fearing that she would turn back to the castle should he utter a single syllable. He kept his hands deep in his pockets to both fight off the cold and to help resist the urge to take her hand, or wrap his arm around her waist… or shoulders so he could feel her hair against his bare skin. Then Lily decided it would be best for them to settle against a tree and make a fire, insisting that James was freezing while James insisted that he was fine despite believing he might have frostbite in both his feet. No one came to look for them which James found odd but chose not to comment on.

"You know, I really am hungry, James," she said, after a while.

"I'll take you to the kitchen," he offered.

"And my friends will be looking for me," she added, quickly.

"Oh, you have a date?" he asked in what he hoped was a casual manner. He really wanted to know if what Snape said was true.

"Something like that," she said, clambering to her feet. "I'm sor-"

"Thank you," James said, quickly, "for keeping me company."

"It was nice," she shrugged. Her smile faded the longer she looked at him. "Good night," she said lightly.

It hurt to watch her go. It stabbed and cut and burned and wrenched. He couldn't exactly explain why but it did and he had to live with it.

He didn't remember her scarf until he decided to leave. He could always give it to Eilidh if he didn't see her in the Common Room. That would be best. Lily didn't seem to like James's obvious displays of friendship in public.

He took the long way back, smiling to himself like a goon when he remembered moments when she smiled or laughed at him.

The first thing he wanted to do when he returned was change his socks then tell his friends every excruciating detail of what just happened which would probably torture them but it didn't matter. He had to tell someone and he wasn't about to look like an idiotic sap in front of anyone else. But then he walked in and saw that Remus wasn't there, Peter was sitting at the desk with piles of missing assignments he had to turn in before they went on holiday, and Sirius was laying on his bed, upside down, wearing a blank expression.

"Where've you been?" Sirius asked, sounding bored.

"I went for a walk," James said, digging around in his trunk for his thickest pair of socks. "With Lily."

"And you made it back in one piece?" Peter said, looking up from his work for a split second. "That's brilliant."

Remus interrupted Sirius's comment by walking in looking very confused and slightly worried.

"No one knows where Marlene is," he explained.

"You mean Eilidh couldn't tell you while you were talking to her in the Common Room?" Sirius asked doing a poor job at feigning surprise.

"I'm not in this, Sirius," Remus said, sounding like he had said it a thousand times already.

James was thinking about going back outside as he switched his socks and put on his boots that were hidden under his bed.

"No, you just have to interrupt James telling us why he walked in looking like a dope on love potion," Sirius said.

"Lily?" Remus asked, turning to James.

"How'd you know?" James chuckled, unable to control his grin.

"I had the map," Remus shrugged.

"I take it you didn't see McKinnon?" James held out his hand for the map. Marlene had been one of the firsts added to the map but they were inexperienced in cardiographic magic so they were bound to make mistakes.

"I did. She was walking with Johnnie Waters," Remus paused for emphasis. "Then both of them disappeared. Right… here," he pointed to a corridor on the seventh floor.

"What the hell's up there?" James wondered out loud. Everything seemed to be fine with the map according to his checks. What were they missing? Was there another passageway the girls knew about and they didn't?

"Well, there is the divination classroom," Remus said as if this was significant information but smiled because he knew it wasn't.

"If only we could ask Eilidh if she knows what's going on," Sirius said in faux disappointment. "Too bad she was too busy talking to someone else instead of Marlene." He shoved his feet into shoes as violently as it is possible for someone to put shoes on.

"You do remember who Johnnie Waters is, right?" Remus asked. "The girl who we found spying on your Quidditch practice with Abbott."

"Way to answer your own question," Sirius grumbled, pushing past Remus to get his jacket.

"Speaking of, we should tell Eilidh about this -" James began but Sirius interrupted.

"No. She told us no more investigating. If we bring her we'll have to hear her whining about how we never listen to her," he protested.

"She also said that you could talk to her in class and during meals but you didn't do that, did you?" James challenged.

"If she wants space, I'll give her space. I'm not going to talk to her when it's convenient for her," Sirius grumbled.

"You've got to stop taking Pevensie seriously. He's an idiot," James groaned, stuffing his Invisibility Cloak in the pocket of his jacket.

"At least he cares about what I'm going through. And doesn't disappear at the first chance -"

"Could you lot argue a little quieter please?" Peter requested, his shoulders tense as he swivelled around in his chair.

"You're not coming with us?" James asked, disappointed.

Peter gestured to the massive pile of assignments he was working on.

"Right, well, at least take one of the mirrors," James pulled his mirror out of his back pocket. He had convinced Sirius, subtle enough to not invoke a string of questions, that it would be a good idea to carry around the mirrors wherever they went after… the incident that shall not be spoken of. "In case of emergencies."

"What sort of emergencies?" Peter questioned, sounding doubtful.

"You know, in case I decide to become a vegetable again," James smirked. It wasn't completely impossible - they still didn't know what happened to him.

"I can't help with that very much," Peter accepted the mirror slowly.

"We'll be back before you know it," James said, giving Peter's shoulder a grateful slap.

"And no one's going catatonic this time," Sirius said, his reassurance full of determination.

"Yes, mum," James nodded and laughed when Sirius pushed him.

"What's with the scarf by the way?" Sirius asked, taking the stairs two at a time.

"It's cold," James said, hoping his embarrassment didn't show in his face.

"It's not that cold," Remus commented.

"If it's cold enough for snow, it's cold enough for a scarf." James strode across the Common Room, determined not to hear another word about it.

Lily smiled as she watched him walk out. It went unnoticed.

* * *

 *****Son of Whitebeard, yes! I've been meaning to write Bertha in this more. I'm not saying that chapter was written for her but yeah...**

 *****Love Fiction 2018, thanks, love :)**

* * *

 ******* **I'm taking my behind the wheel test this Saturday. If any of you live on the west coast, just be careful around 9 am, I might run into you.**

 **Thank you for reading and all that jazz.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


	74. The Case of the Missing McKinnon

They decided to leave Eilidh in the dark, mostly for Sirius's sake but partially for their own. So, Remus, James, and Sirius made their way up to the seventh floor under the Invisibility Cloak (which only reached their mid calves with all three of them under.) Remus kept the map under his lit wand in case Marlene suddenly reappeared or Filch and Mrs Norris got too close.

Stakeouts were boring. The three of them sat against a wall around where Remus saw Marlene disappear and shared a liquorice wand between them. The night wore on… and on. The prefects made their rounds to find any stray students. Then the Professors. Until finally it was only Mrs Norris and the ghosts they had to worry about.

"Maybe we missed her showing up again?" Remus sighed, whispering so he wouldn't break the stoney silence of the night.

"You're too easily discouraged," Sirius tisked.

And the night wore on…

They heard footsteps, very human footsteps where there shouldn't have been footsteps at all.

"Who is it?" James hissed at Remus, poking him hard as if it would make him pull out the map faster.

"Eilidh," he answered, his brow furrowed. "Why would she -?" he began but Sirius shushed him, flattening himself against the wall, trying to make himself more invisible.

James made sure that the three of them were sufficiently covered by the cloak. They all held their breaths.

She was being led by a sort of wispy substance, close to a Patronus but not. Remus recognised it immediately as the results of a humanus revelio charm.

"Damn," he said, out loud.

James pinched his arm, exactly where he had been poking it earlier.

Eilidh, recognising his voice, sighed in exasperation. Her wand hand dropped to her side and with it the wispy substance.

"What are you lot doing here?" she asked.

Sirius pulled the cloak off and crumpled it up small enough to store in his pocket.

"We were looking for Marlene," Remus answered.

"In the middle of the night?" she challenged. "I'd assume she'd be in bed with the rest of the castle." She smirked and raised her eyebrow in a knowing sort of way.

"It wasn't the middle of the night when we got here," James argued, using the wall to help himself, legs were rather stiff from sitting so long.

"Well, come on." Eilidh gestured for them to follow her back towards Gryffindor Tower.

"How'd you know we were here?" James asked.

"You're not the only one who can be clever." She suppressed a smile, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Humanus Revelio," Remus explained. "My dad uses it all the time."

"But how did she know to look here?" Sirius pressed, crossing his arms. He was the only one still sitting. There was something awkward in the way he didn't look at Eilidh.

"Why don't you ask _me_ while we walk this way?" Eilidh asked, irritably.

"We're still looking for Marlene," James protested.

"Marlene will come out as soon as we walk away," she insisted, patiently.

The three of them shrugged at each other, agreeing to trust her, and as they started to follow, Eilidh began to explain:

"I got a Patronus from someone saying Marlene needed help getting people out of this corridor and when Marlene asks," Eilidh shrugged.

"Who'd it come from?" James questioned.

Eilidh led them around the nearest corner until they were completely out of sight.

"No idea," she finally answered.

"How'd you know it's Marlene who really needs help? What if -" James began.

"Not everything is a conspiracy," she said, gently.

"I saw her disappear with Johnnie Waters," Remus insisted.

Eilidh raised her eyebrows but her rebuttal was interrupted by an awful sound of grinding stone. It was followed by scurried footsteps and whispered voices. Eilish prevented them from peering around the corner with an arm over their chests so they had to rely on their ears to pick up any distinct patterns.

"Eilidh," they heard Marlene whisper.

Eilidh moved to dart out but James caught her by the arm. He took out his wand and gestured for Remus and Sirius to do the same then released Eilidh. She rolled her eyes as she took the lead.

They were met with a simply ecstatic Marlene standing with a seventh year Ravenclaw girl. She had dark hair, blushing cheeks, and kind eyes.

"They saw you with Johnnie Waters and got worried," Eilidh explained, the accusation in her tone so subtle Marlene didn't catch it.

Marlene rolled her eyes but it was less of an annoyed gesture and more of an 'of course they did' gesture.

"This is Emmeline Vance," Marlene said, waving her hand to showcase the girl next to her.

"Hi," Eilidh smiled and shook Emmeline's hand.

"Sorry for waking you," Emmeline grinned approvingly.

"Oh, don't be," Eilidh said, waving off her apology. "Thank you for waking me."

"Eilidh likes to be helpful," Marlene told Emmeline.

"Well, one thing's for certain then, she's an excellent friend," she replied then turned away from them to speak only to Marlene. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Marlene's laughed sounded almost nervous.

Emmeline nodded before heading back to her dormitory.

Marlene turned on her heels to face the boys head on.

"I appreciate you lot coming after me but you can be the nosiest people sometimes," Marlene said.

"We were supposed to study tonight," Remus said sheepishly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I am so sorry! I completely forgot," Marlene said earnestly, reaching to touch his forearm.

"No, it's alright. I just got worried. You never know with Slytherins…" Remus trailed off. Marlene didn't know what to say to this.

"So, you're friends with Johnnie Waters now?" James accused.

"Off the Quidditch field, yes," Marlene said, firmly.

James didn't like it but he chose to stay quiet for the time being.

"Sirius," Eilidh said.

"What?" Sirius snapped.

Eilidh looked a little hurt by this but said nonetheless, "Did you have fun tonight?"

"As fun as staring at a blank wall can be," Sirius answered.

"Good," she smiled, "sleep well then."

She turned to pull Marlene away before she could do more than glare. They whispered for a bit then Marlene burst out with:

"I have so much to tell you!"

"Well, I guess every mission can't be a success," Sirius sighed.

"We found Marlene," Remus argued.

"Eilidh found Marlene," Sirius corrected. "Eilidh got us away from their hiding place. Eilidh was successful. We failed. At everything. We don't even know how Marlene managed to disappear." He huffed and strode forward, leading them back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Is that why you're upset with her?" James asked. "I thought it was because you decided to ignore her."

Remus laughed. Sirius glared. And James yawned.

"Overall, tonight was a pretty good night," he observed.

"Agreed," Remus nodded.

Sirius hummed a noncommittal hum and sauntered on.

"You know what you could do, Sirius? To get back at Eilidh. Considering all this ignoring business is exhausting on all of us," James asked, casually.

"What, James?" Sirius groaned.

"You could have the time of your life -"

"And prove her right!" Sirius exclaimed, coming to a sudden stop in front of James.

James arched an eyebrow. "You realise you sound completely mental, right?"

"You are mental," Sirius returned.

"Some of us are better at hiding it than others," James shrugged.

Sirius turned and marched away, keeping a large distance between them.

"I refuse to believe that he's completely hopeless," James told Remus.

"I don't think so. He's just…."

"Sensitive."

"He's got a big heart."

"He can't take rejection," James said, seriously.

"And he thinks Eilidh is breaking up with him," Remus nodded in sudden understanding.

"I blame Pevensie," James said.

"What happened between you two?" Remus asked. Again.

James sighed and threw his arm over Remus's shoulders.

"One day I'll tell you," he said. "But today is not that day."

"But you said tonight's a good night," Remus persisted.

"Last one to the dormitory has to kiss a troll," James said, quickly and began to run.

"It's not good to run from your problems!" Remus called after him.

* * *

 *****Son of Whitebeard, yeah, I wrote about that but decided that chapter wasn't worth posting so we'll just chalk that up to a Christmas miracle for now :D**

 *****Love Fiction 2019, thank you :)**

* * *

 **You guys would be so disappointed in me if you knew how long this chapter has been ready to post. Like, I mean, it's been sitting in my doc manager for... *mumbles incoherently* I am terribly, terribly sorry for making you wait so long but I work retail, I've adopted a five-week-old pup, and I started school again. I was a little busy. Hope all your holidays were awesome though.**

 **I have another big Jily chapter written, I just need to find the time/motivation to type it... Wish me luck.**

 **Thank you all for reading and again for your patience.**

 **All rights reserved.**

 **Until next time,**

 **XO**


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